AUSTIN, Texas—All eligible St. David's HealthCare facilities were recently awarded an “A” from The Leapfrog Group's Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grades. The designation recognizes facilities' efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare. St. David's HealthCare is the only hospital system in the Austin area to receive an “A” for all eligible facilities.
The Leapfrog Group is a national organization committed to improving healthcare quality and safety for patients. The Hospital Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harm to patients in their care.
St. David's Medical Center, St. David's North Austin Medical Center, St. David's South Austin Medical Center, St. David's Round Rock Medical Center and St. David's Georgetown Hospital all received an “A” rating. These facilities were among 832 hospitals nationwide to earn this rating. St. David's Medical Center has received straight “A” ratings since The Leapfrog Group launched the Hospital Safety ScoreSM initiative in 2012. Heart Hospital of Austin and St. David's Surgical Hospital were not included in the study completed by The Leapfrog Group because the facilities are considered specialty hospitals.
“We are dedicated to providing safe and effective care to our patients,” Dr. Ken Mitchell, chief medical officer of St. David's HealthCare, said. “This recognition underscores the ongoing commitment to sustaining a culture of quality and safety by our doctors, nurses and staff.”
Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 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.
For more information about the Hospital Safety Grades, visit the Hospital Safety Grade website.
The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American healthcare. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.