St. Joseph’s Hospital-South was awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing 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.
“This recognition from Leapfrog is an excellent barometer of our adherence and commitment to clinical excellence and safety,” said Philip Minden, St. Joseph’s Hospital-South president. “Our medical staff and team members in every department at every level were important and key contributors in this achievement. We have successful protocols and procedures that are steadfastly carried out, and that has been identified by Leapfrog with our ‘A’ grade.”
“We are extremely grateful to hospital leadership and health care workers who have remained steadfast in prioritizing patient safety as our nation battles COVID-19,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “These grades are a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for BayCare. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”
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.
St. Joseph’s Hospital-South opened in February 2015 to bring high-quality health care services to Southern Hillsborough County in an environment designed to help patients heal. Part of BayCare Health System, St. Joseph’s Hospital-South features all-private patient suites and offers emergency care, surgical services, imaging, intensive care, obstetrics, cardiac catheterization and more in a peaceful, relaxing and family-centered environment.
To see full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter at https://twitter.com/leapfroggroup Twitter and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheLeapfrogGroup.
