Medical Center of Trinity Earns 'A' Safety Rating

Press Release submitted by Medical Center of Trinity

The Leapfrog Group recently made public its Safe Hospital Scores. The scores are derived from Leapfrog’s key questions and publicly reported data. Medical Center of Trinity (formerly Community Hospital) received an A rating for safety.

“This recognition is particularly important to us as we enter a new era of service” said Leigh Massengill, CEO of Medical Center of Trinity.  “It is a recognition of our entire staff’s effort to ensure our patients, physicians and community  of the safest hospital experience possible. This is an objective recognition of the quality of care provided here at Medical Center of Trinity, especially since only a handful of hospitals earned an “A” rating.” she added.  Only six hospitals in the Tampa Bay area received an “A” Safety Rating from the Leapfrog Group.

According to the Leapfrog Group approximately 400 people daily die because of hospital errors – the equivalent of a jet crashing every day and killing all aboard. In response to this silent epidemic, more than 2,600 US hospitals will now receive an A, B, C, D or F hospital safety score based on patient safety via a first-of-its-kind initiative. A blue ribbon panel of the nation’s top patient safety experts provides guidance to The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, to develop the Hospital Safety Score. The Hospital Safety Score is calculated using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections.

“The Leapfrog Group’s goal is to give patients the vital information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO, The Leapfrog Group. “We hope people will use this score to talk with their doctor, make informed decisions about where to seek care, and take the right precautions during a hospital stay.” For the first time the Hospital Safety Score highlights the country’s best hospitals and warns against the worst to save lives and bring attention to the nation’s silent safety epidemic. The Hospital Safety Score website – www.HospitalSafetyScore.org – allows visitors to search hospital scores for free and also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay.

“A” scores were awarded to for-profit hospitals including many in the HCA systems, as well as hundreds of not-for-profits and public hospitals throughout the nation. Not all hospitals earned an “A”, and the Leapfrog Group says that there were some surprises with outstanding reputations for quality appearing with safety scores of “B,” “C,” or below. The Hospital Safety Score exclusively measures safety – meaning errors, accidents, and infections.

The report went on to highlight other identifiers. To see the full report go to www.HospitalSafetyScore.org.

Medical Center of Trinity, formerly known as Community Hospital, scored either perfect or near perfect in the surgical care improvement project measures.

• Patients received their antibiotic within one hour prior to surgical incision 100%
• Patients received the right antibiotic 99%
• Antibiotic discontinued after 24 hours – 100%
• Urinary catheter removed on post-operative day – 99.3%
• Surgery patients received appropriate treatment to prevent blood clots at the right time – 100%

Medical Center of Trinity also received either perfect scores or near-perfect scores in the areas of hospital acquired condition measures such as:

• Foreign object returned after surgery – perfect score
• Air embolism – perfect score
• Pressure ulcer – perfect score
• Falls and trauma – near perfect score

The report went on to highlight other identifiers. To see the full report, go to www.HospitalSafetyScore.org.

Not all hospitals make the full list of 26 measures publicly available, in which case the Hospital Safety Score was calculated only for the available measures. The Blue Ribbon Expert Panel required at least 14 measures for a hospital in order to calculate a hospital’s safety score.