St. Joseph Health–St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and St. Joseph Health–St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton recently earned an "A" Hospital Safety ScoreSM from The Leapfrog Group, recognizing these hospitals for being among the safest in the nation.
The Leapfrog Group, which is an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, calculated scores for hospitals across the nation with assistance from the Hospital Safety ScoreSM as well as The Leapfrog Group's Blue Ribbon Expert Panel. Scores were created using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. U.S. hospitals were assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for their safety. Out of the 264 hospitals that received a grade in California, only 37 percent received an "A" grade.
"It is a great honor to be recognized as two of the safest hospitals in Orange County and in the state," said Darrin Montalvo, Executive Vice President of St. Joseph Health, Southern California Region, which is the parent organization for the hospitals. "At St. Joseph Health we pride ourselves on our commitment to providing perfect care to the communities we serve, and this is a testament to our success."
Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety ScoreSM uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).
"It's The Leapfrog Group's goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "We congratulate the hospitals that earned an 'A' and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first."
To see more information about Hospital Safety Scores, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, the Hospital Safety ScoreSM website, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay.
St. Joseph Health provides a full range of care facilities throughout Orange County, Calif., including: acute care hospitals, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, community clinics and physician organizations. St. Joseph Health – St. Joseph in Orange was recently re-designated a Magnet facility for nursing excellence and was named one of the top 10 hospitals in the Los Angeles/Orange County area by U.S. News & World Report. St. Jude Medical Center recently earned a three-year accreditation by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and received a "3 star" rating for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft procedures from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. St. Joseph Health is committed to providing and maintaining a continuum of care that matches the diverse needs of the communities it serves through its technologically advanced facilities and its over 10,750 dedicated employees that strive daily to provide perfect care while building the healthiest communities and ensuring every encounter is sacred.
About St. Joseph Health
St. Joseph Health is a $4.7 billion integrated Catholic health care delivery system sponsored by the St. Joseph Health Ministry. We provide a full range of care facilities including: acute care hospitals, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, community clinics and physician organizations throughout California, Texas and New Mexico. Our 24,000 dedicated employees strive daily to provide perfect care while building the healthiest communities and ensuring every encounter is sacred. St. Joseph Health is committed to maintaining a continuum of care that matches the diverse needs of the communities we serve. For more information about St. Joseph Health, log onto www.stjoe.org.
About The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.