NCH nationally recognized with an ‘A’ for the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) was awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing NCH’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to healthcare 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 is the fourth time in a row we have received an A rating which is something achieved by less than 30% of the hospitals in the country,” said NCH Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Alan Loren, M.D., PhD. “We are extremely proud of this award which was accomplished by the collective effort of everyone in this organization whose mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve and to meet individuals’ healthcare needs. We continue to build upon our Integrated System of Care to constantly deliver innovative, exceptional and coordinated care for the patients and communities we serve.”

“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. “This ‘A’ is a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for NCH. 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.

NCH was awarded an ‘A’ grade when Leapfrog updated grades for fall 2020. To see NCH’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.