Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara among the safest in nation

Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara hospital is being recognized as among the safest in the nation for patient care, according to The Leapfrog Group’s biannual Hospital Safety Grades report.

Leapfrog reviews hospital clinical data and assigns hospitals grades based on approximately two dozen safety measures that analyze patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara hospital is recognized with an “A” grade for patient safety.

“Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara,” said Colleen Mckeown, RN, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara interim senior vice president and area manager. “Our consistently high patient safety ratings reflect the commitment of our physicians, nurses, and staff who provide high-quality, safe patient care.”

This fall, 14 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California received A grades from Leapfrog, including: Antioch, Fresno, Manteca, Modesto, Oakland, Roseville, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South Sacramento, and South San Francisco.

“The health and safety of our members and patients is our top priority,” said Rakesh Chaudhary, MD, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara physician in chief. “This recognition reflects our desire to deliver exceptional care and excellent health outcomes.”

The Leapfrog Group assigns letter grades to nearly 3,000 hospitals throughout the United States. The grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

More than 60% of Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals received an A grade. In California overall, only about 30% of the state’s hospitals earned this top grade.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Hospital Safety Grades after examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections at U.S. hospitals. The report includes data collected by national health care organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scores are calculated based on more than two dozen publicly available measures, and hospitals are then assigned A, B, C, D or F grades for their safety records. The grades are released as a free resource to help patients and their families make informed health care decisions.

Kaiser Permanente is one of America’s leading integrated health care providers and serves 12.5 million members. Nationally, 24 of the 39 Kaiser Permanente hospitals that were eligible for a grade, more than 60% percent, received a Leapfrog Safety A grade. In contrast, approximately 30% of the nation’s hospitals received an A rating.

For more information and a complete list of the hospital safety grades, visit Leapfrog.

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