The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, today announced the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades and once again awarded Saint Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC) an ‘A’ for achieving the highest national standards in patient safety. SBMC is one of only 29 hospitals in the United States to be awarded an ‘A’ every grading cycle since 2012.
“This ‘A’ grade marks the 18th consecutive time that Saint Barnabas Medical Center has been recognized for its intentional focus on patient safety and high-quality care for our patients and their families,” says Stephen P. Zieniewicz, FACHE, President and CEO, SBMC. “Consistently achieving an ‘A’ for patient safety is an extraordinary accomplishment and I congratulate the physicians, employees and volunteers at Saint Barnabas Medical Center on receiving this prestigious honor.”
In addition to receiving its 18th straight ‘A’, SBMC was the only hospital in New Jersey, and one of only 10 in the country, to be named a Top Teaching Hospital (with more than 500 beds), also from The Leapfrog Group. Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, this designation is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive.
“We applaud Saint Barnabas Medical Center for protecting the lives and safety of patients and health care workers. Given the immense challenges confronting the American health care system as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic, we need all hospitals to demonstrate such relentless dedication to their patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.
The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘F’ to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. 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 Leapfrog’s grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
To see more details on Saint Barnabas Medical Center’s performance and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.
For more information about Saint Barnabas Medical Center, visit www.rwjbh.org/saintbarnabas and follow the hospital on Instagram @SaintBarnabasNJ.