Four ScionHealth Community Hospitals Earn ‘A’ Safety Grades from The Leapfrog Group

The grade, awarded for Spring 2024, is Leapfrog’s highest national recognition for patient safety.

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (May 15, 2024) – Four ScionHealth community hospitals earned the prestigious “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit group that sets standards for excellence in patient safety and care. Andalusia Health (Andalusia, AL), Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center (Hartsville, SC), Palestine Regional Medical Center (Palestine, TX) and Southwestern Medical Center (Lawton, OK) received the top grade during Leapfrog’s Spring 2024 assessments announced on May 1.

Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. Only 29% of the approximately 3,000 hospitals reviewed nationwide earn Leapfrog’s “A” grade.

Of ScionHealth’s 14 community hospitals rated by Leapfrog, four improved their grade from the prior Leapfrog review conducted in the Fall of 2023, and 43% improved their grades from Leapfrog’s 2023 Spring ratings. Two things may have contributed to the improvement ‒ the launch of ScionHealth’s national quality program in 2023, and the community hospital’s participation in a “Culture of Safety” survey conducted by Press Ganey in 2023 ‒ both of which drove ongoing safety improvement initiatives at the company’s hospitals.

“Hospital safety is an essential component of our ‘ScionSix’ national quality initiative at ScionHealth,” said Dr. Dean French, ScionHealth’s Chief Medical Officer. “Achieving measurable improvements in safety and quality requires a concerted effort by the entire hospital team, and often entails a shift in culture. Our hospital and clinical leadership teams continue to strive for excellence along their quality journeys, and we are encouraged by the early returns as measured by our internal objectives and recognitions from hospital safety and patient experience advocates such as Leapfrog.”

Since 2023, ScionHealth’s community hospitals have earned recognitions that include Healthgrades’ 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award and 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award; The Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 100 top-performing rural and community hospitals listing; Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Great Community Hospitals” listing; U.S. News and World Report’s Top Maternity Hospitals; and Leapfrog’s “Top Hospital” list, among others. The company’s specialty hospitals recently had five facilities rank in the Top 20 of acute care hospital locations nationwide by Reputation.com, a measure reflecting the hospitals’ high-quality, patient-centered care and continuous improvement.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program exclusively based on hospital prevention of medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually in the fall and spring.

“Everyone who works at these ScionHealth community hospitals should be proud of this ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes complete dedication at every level, and an ironclad commitment to putting patients first. I thank these hospitals, their leadership, clinicians, staff, and volunteers for caring so deeply for its patients and their safety.”

To see the safety grades of these and other local hospitals, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and search by city/state or zip code. For more information about The Leapfrog Group and for access to patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook or join their newsletter mailing list.

About 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 for patient safety. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC 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. For more, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter.