Leapfrog Awards All SLUHN Hospitals A Grades for Patient Safety

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit watchdog organization on hospital safety, has released its spring Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, awarding top marks to every St. Luke’s University Health Network hospital eligible for evaluation – 10 campuses in total.

St. Luke's is the only major health system in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to earn straight A's, according to Leapfrog.

“This unprecedented feat is a direct reflection of St. Luke’s passion for quality and commitment to safety,” stated St. Luke’s Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol. “Kudos to St. Luke’s outstanding leadership, providers, nurses and hospital staff and volunteers! Because of our great people, we have been able provide world-class care throughout the pandemic.”

The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F twice annually – in the spring and fall – to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections, accidents, and other harms. The St. Luke’s Hospitals receiving an “A” grade were:

• Allentown Campus
• Anderson Campus
• Easton Campus
• Lehighton Campus
• Miners Campus
• Monroe Campus
• Sacred Heart Campus
• Upper Bucks Campus
• University Hospital – Bethlehem Campus
• Warren Campus, New Jersey

The fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade represents the largest set of hospitals ever graded with grades assigned to 2,901 facilities. The Safety Grades reflect performance on more than 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety, including for the first time, post-operative sepsis, blood leakage, and kidney injury.

The fall grades show significant variation in patient safety performance across U.S. hospitals, which underscores the importance of access to information that allows patients to select the safest hospital available to them.

“As the pandemic continues, we all have heightened awareness of the importance of hospitals in our communities and in our lives,” said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It is critical that all hospitals put patient safety first. Now we have more information on more hospitals than ever before, so people can protect themselves and their families.”

Across all states, highlights of findings from the fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade include:

• Thirty-two percent of hospitals received an "A," 26% received a "B," 35% received a "C," 7% received a "D," and less than 1% received an "F.”
• The five states with the highest percentages of "A" hospitals are Virginia, North Carolina, Idaho, Massachusetts, and Colorado.
• There were no "A" hospitals in Delaware, Washington, DC, and North Dakota.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is advised by an expert panel of leading patient safety authorities from across the country and receives guidance from the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring.

“An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a tremendous achievement, of which this community should be extremely proud,” Binder said. “I thank the leadership and workforce of St. Luke’s for its commitment to prioritizing patients and their safety, especially during these trying times.”