Colorado Hospital Safety Grades 2018: The Best And The Worst

DENVER, CO –Fifteen Colorado hospitals received an A grade in hospital safety, according to new Fall 2018 ratings released by the Leapfrog Group on Thursday. The nonprofit group found that of the more than 2,600 hospitals graded in the country, 32 percent earned an A grade.

The Leapfrog Group explains that its rating system is focused entirely on errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The hospital safety grades are released by the nonprofit group twice a year, in the spring and in the fall.

New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, Massachusetts and Texas had the highest percentage of hospitals that received an A grade. The states with the lowest percentage of hospitals that received an A grade are Connecticut, Nebraska, Washington D.C., Delaware and North Dakota, according to Leapfrog. Washington D.C., Delaware and North Dakota did not have a single hospital that received an A grade.

No Colorado hospital received an F grade, although two received Ds.

Here are the grades Colorado hospitals were given by the Leapfrog Group:

• Boulder Community Foothills Hospital - C
• Centura Health Castle Rock Adventist Hospital, Castle Rock - B
• Centura Health-Avista Adventist Hospital, Louisville - C
• Centura Health-Littleton Adventist Hospital - B
• Centura Health-Penrose Hospital, Colorado Springs - A
• Centura Health-Porter Adventist Hospital, Denver - B
• Centura Health-St. Anthony Hospital, Lakewood - C
• Centura Health-St. Anthony North Hospital, Westminster - C
• Centura Health-St. Francis Medical Center, Colorado Springs - A
• Centura Health-St. Mary Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo - C
• Centura Health-St. Thomas More Hospital, Canon City - A
• Centura Parker Adventist Hospital - C
• Community Hospital, Grand Junction - D
• Delta County Memorial Hospital - C
• Denver Health Medical Center - A
• Good Samaritan Medical Center - B
• Longmont United Hospital - C
• Lutheran Medical Center, Wheat Ridge - A
• McKee Medical Center, Loveland - A
• Medical Center of Aurora - A
• Mercy Regional Medical Center, Durango - C
• Montrose Memorial Hospital - C
• North Colorado Medical Center, Greeley - B
• North Suburban Medical Center, Thornton - A
• Parkview Medical Center, Pueblo - D
• Platte Valley Medical Center, Brighton - B
• Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Denver - A
• Regional Medical Center, Alamosa - C
• Rose Medical Center, Denver - A
• Saint Joseph Hospital, Denver - A
• Sky Ridge Medical Center, Lone Tree - A
• St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center, Grand Junction -A
• Sterling Regional MedCenter - A
• Swedish Medical Center, Englewood - A
• UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, Loveland - C
• UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, Colorado Springs - A
• UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins - B
• UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora - C
• UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center, Steamboat Springs - C
• Vail Health - A
• Valley View Hospital, Glenwood Springs - A

“Health care was an important issue in the 2018 midterm elections, yet both parties are still neglecting the third leading cause of death in America—errors and infections in hospitals,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a press release. “Every elected official, from city councilors, to senators, to the President, should hold hospitals accountable and support efforts to improve patient safety.”

Leapfrog assigns A,B,C,D and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the United States. Leapfrog explains that the safety grade includes 28 measures that are taken together to “produce a single letter grade representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.” The group uses performance measures from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (You can read more about the letter grades here.)

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff

Image via Shutterstock

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