San Ramon Regional Medical Center Hospital Safety Grade Released, Sparking War Of Words

SAN RAMON, CA — San Ramon Regional Medical Center scored a C in the Fall 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report, sparking a contentious exchange between the hospital and the Leapfrog Group.

According to the report card, the hospital was rated below average in the following areas:

• C. diff infection
• Accidental cuts and tears
• Dangerous bed sores
• Doctors ordering medications through a computer
• Safe medication administration
• Handwashing
• Communication about medicines
• Communication about discharge
• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients
• Responsiveness to hospital staff

The report also claims that the hospital declined to report on several metrics, including “Effective leadership to prevent errors,” “nursing and bedside care for patients” and “staff work together to report errors.”

It also ranked above average in certain categories, including:

• Preventing surgical site infection after colon surgery
• Preventing sepsis infection after surgery
• Preventing dangerous objects left in patient’s body
• Preventing blood leakage
• Preventing harmful events
• Preventing patient falls and injuries
• Preventing falls causing broken hips
• Preventing collapsed lungs
• Preventing dangerous blood clots

The hospital has received a C in every Leapfrog report since spring 2022, except in spring 2025, when it received a D.

The hospital accused the Leapfrog Group of assigning “dangerous and misleading safety grades.” In a statement provided to Patch, the San Ramon Regional Medical Center alleged that Leapfrog “deliberately changed its Hospital Safety Grade scoring methodology to punish hospitals that decline to participate in its survey” for “commercial reasons.”

“The result is a system built on inaccurate data and pressure tactics that mislead the public and damage hospitals’ reputations. These rankings benefit only Leapfrog, at the expense of patients and the broader healthcare system,” the hospital said.

Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder issued a strong rebuttal.

“Leapfrog is an independent not-for-profit watchdog organization with transparency at its core and no commercial interest whatsoever in giving hospitals like this one poor grades,” Binder said in a statement shared with Patch. “By contrast, Tenet Healthcare, which owns this hospital, is a publicly traded for-profit company with a strong commercial interest in silencing a much smaller nonprofit for having the audacity to give them bad grades.”

Both San Ramon Regional and Leapfrog referenced a pending lawsuit in Florida, where five Tenet-owned hospitals are currently suing Leapfrog over what they claim are deceptive and misleading methodologies for their rankings. The lawsuit requests $75,000 in damages, and an injunction against publishing the grades.

“We stand with our sister hospitals, which earlier this year filed a complaint in Florida challenging The Leapfrog Group’s dangerous and misleading rankings under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act,” San Ramon Regional said in its statement to Patch.

Leapfrog is arguing that the five hospitals performed well below average in several areas, and are defending their methodology and the publication of the grades.

“Five Tenet hospitals in Florida are now suing Leapfrog to prevent the public from seeing their Hospital Safety Grades, in hopes the public won’t hear about their medical errors, injuries, and infections,” Bidne said. “This is the kind of court battle the First Amendment was written for: protecting a small independent nonprofit from a $20 billion corporation aiming to silence criticism of its very dangerous safety record.”

Nearby, Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley received an A, Washington Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont scored a C, Kaiser Foundation Hospital scored a C, St. Rose Hospital scored a D, and Eden Medical Center scored an A.

See here for the full report card.

SEE ALSO:

• Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley Graded In New Safety Rankings
• These Are CA's Safest, And Least Safe, Hospitals: New Leapfrog Ranking