||| FROM BARBARA PONGRACZ LAMB for ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER |||
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center was awarded an ‘A’ in the spring 2023 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a distinction recognizing PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s achievements in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.
“Providing safe, high-quality care is the cornerstone of our Mission,” said Lorna Gober, MD, chief medical officer for PeaceHealth’s Northwest network, which includes PeaceHealth St. Joseph. “Our talented team of nurses, providers and support people work tirelessly to ensure that every patient receives exceptional — and exceptionally safe — care. We are delighted that this effort is recognized and validated by an outside group devoted to monitoring hospital safety.”
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
To see PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
About PeaceHealth
PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a nonprofit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 caregivers, a group practice with more than 1,200 providers and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. Visit us online at peacehealth.org.
About The Leapfrog Group and Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other healthcare purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. Please visit leapfroggroup.org for more information on The Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade rates hospitals on how safe they are for patients. The Hospital Safety Grade represents how well the hospital protects patients from errors, injuries and infections. The Safety Grade was developed by the foremost patient safety experts in the country.
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