St. Lucie Medical Center earns only A on Treasure Coast in Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades
St. Lucie Medical Center is the safest hospital on the Treasure Coast, according to national health care watchdog The Leapfrog Group.
The Port St. Lucie hospital was awarded an A in the semi-annual Hospital Safety Grades the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit released Wednesday.
Just as in the spring, St. Lucie was the only local hospital to score top marks this fall. Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital got a B, while the other five hospitals got C’s.
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Each Treasure Coast hospital either matched its spring ranking or received a lower grade; none improved.
“As the (coronavirus) pandemic continues, we all have heightened awareness of the importance of hospitals in our communities and in our lives,” Leah Binder, Leapfrog president and CEO, said in a Nov. 10 statement. “It is critical that all hospitals put patient safety first.”
While hospital rankings are a dime a dozen — such as those conducted by Healthgrades, Newsweek, IBM Watson Health and U.S. News and World Report — Leapfrog claims to be the only one “based exclusively on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients.”
The company assessed a record 2,901 U.S. hospitals this fall and added three new grading criteria: blood leakage, kidney injury and post-operative sepsis.
Virginia was the top-ranked state, with 56.2% of its hospitals receiving an A, followed by North Carolina and Idaho. Tied for worst-ranked, each without any A hospitals, were Delaware, North Dakota and Washington, D.C.
Florida ranked 13th, down from 11th in the spring, with 36.4% of Sunshine State hospitals receiving an A.
St. Lucie Medical Center remains on A honor roll
St. Lucie Medical Center, one of three hospitals in St. Lucie County, has been the most decorated on the Treasure Coast in the last four years. Leapfrog has awarded the facility six A’s and two B’s since spring 2018.
The only other area hospitals to get an A in that time were Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in fall 2018 and Sebastian River Medical Center in spring 2019.
St. Lucie's high marks “are a testament to our focus on enhancing the patient experience and always doing what is right to meet our patients’ needs,” said spokesperson Tiffany Woods. “Our highly skilled team of physicians, nurses and health care professionals are dedicated to providing compassionate, efficient and patient-focused care at all times.”
St. Lucie, operated by HCA Healthcare, is among the 32% of U.S. hospitals to get an A this fall. But it’s not perfect; the facility scored below average in seven categories, including death from serious treatable complications.
Indian River Hospital scores a B in patient safety
Indian River Hospital got a B this fall, among 26% of medical centers nationwide. It also scored a B in spring, and was the only local hospital to get a B in spring and maintain it.
“Patient safety is our top priority,” said Dr. Sonya Pease, Cleveland Clinic Florida’s chief quality, safety and patient experience officer. “Our caregivers are trained and supported to provide a safe environment for patients through safety education and the use of checklists that are performed before every procedure to ensure every patient receives the highest quality of care every time.”
Indian River got six B’s and two C’s since spring 2018.
This fall, the Vero Beach hospital scored below average in 14 categories, including C. diff infection.
Most Treasure Coast hospitals earn C’s
Leapfrog awarded C’s to each of the Treasure Coast’s other hospitals:
Sebastian River Medical Center, Sebastian
Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute, Fort Pierce
Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, Port St. Lucie
They’re in the plurality; 35% of U.S. hospitals got this average grade. Just 7% scored a D and less than 1% got an F.
Sebastian River, a Steward Health Care hospital, maintained its spring score. Its grades have varied more in the last four years than those of any other local hospital. Sebastian River got an F in spring 2018, but soared to an A the next spring. It tanked to a D in spring 2020 and has kept a C ever since.
Sebastian River scored below average in 12 categories this fall, including surgical wounds split open. A spokesperson did not respond to TCPalm’s request for comment.
Lawnwood also maintained the C it got in spring. In the past four years, the HCA Healthcare hospital has received an A, three B’s and four C’s.
Lawnwood scored below average in 17 categories this fall, including sepsis infection after surgery, more than any other area hospital. Woods did not comment on the grade.
Tradition and Martin North and South hospitals all earned C’s this fall after getting B’s in spring. Martin South had the fewest below-average scores among them, 11.
Tradition and Martin North each have scored six B’s and two C’s in the last four years. Martin North has received four B’s and four C’s.
“Cleveland Clinic is committed to transparency and is one of the few health systems to publicly report serious safety events,” Pease said in a statement to TCPalm. “In addition, our outcomes are readily available online, giving patients access to comprehensive data on procedures, volumes, mortality, complications and innovations.”
All Treasure Coast hospitals scored above average in these categories:
Infection in the urinary tract during ICU stay
Air or gas bubble in the blood
Doctors ordering medications through a computer
Safe medication administration
Staff working together to prevent errors
Effective leadership to prevent errors
Having enough qualified nurses.
Communication with doctors was the only category in which all local hospitals scored below average.
Lindsey Leake is TCPalm's health, welfare and social justice reporter. She has a master's in journalism and digital storytelling from American University, a bachelor's from Princeton and is a science writing graduate student at Johns Hopkins. Follow her on Twitter @NewsyLindsey, Facebook @LindseyMLeake and Instagram @newsylindsey. Call her at 772-529-5378 or email her at lindsey.leake@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River
