ICYMI: Hospital Patient Safety Grades Released For Tampa Bay

TAMPA, FL — How safe are the hospitals in the Tampa Bay area? New grades released Wednesday by The Leapfrog Group show a mixed bag in the region and surrounding counties. The nonprofit group founded by employers and healthcare providers ranked dozens of hospitals in the area as part of its spring 2017 safety grades report.

The hospitals were given a letter grade from A through F based on several factors. To come up with the grades, Leapfrog looks at medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The goal is to determine what a patient's risk of further injury or infection is if they visit a certain hospital.

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According to the organization, more than 1,000 Americans die each day from preventable hospital errors. Hospitals given a B rating by Leapfrog had a 9 percent higher risk of avoidable death than A hospitals. That number jumps to 35 percent in C hospitals and 50 percent higher in D and F hospitals. Two hospitals in the Tampa Bay area earned D rankings, but none were graded with an F.

At the state level, Maine was ranked No. 1. Hawaii, Oregon, Wisconsin and Idaho rounded out the top five. Since Leapfrog began its ratings in 2012, the organization says there have been significant strides in improving patient safety, such as a 21 percent decrease in hospital acquired conditions, along with increased use of computerized physician order entry systems, and millions of averted patient harms. More than 1,000 people a day are estimated to die from preventable errors, making this the third leading cause of death in America.

“When we launched the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade in 2012, our goal was to alert consumers to the hazards involved in a hospital stay and help them choose the safest option. We also hoped to galvanize hospitals to make safety the first priority day in and day out,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog.

Here are the grades hospitals in the Tampa Bay area received:

A Grades

• Englewood Community Hospital, Englewood
• Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel
• Morton Plant Hospital, Clearwater
• Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Sarasota
• Florida Hospital North Pinellas, Tarpon Spring
• Mease Dunedin Hospital, Dunedin
• Mease Countryside Hospital, Safety Hospital
• Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota
• Florida Hospital Carrollwood, Tampa

B Grades

• Florida Hospital Tampa, Tampa
• Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Lakeland
• Largo Medical Center, Largo
• Medical Center of Trinity, Trinity
• St. Joseph’s Hospital, Tampa
• South Florida Baptist Hospital, Plant City
• Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, New Port Richey
• St. Joseph’s Hospital North, Lutz
• Brandon Regional Hospital, Brandon

C Grades

• Memorial Hospital of Tampa, Tampa
• South Bay Hospital, Sun City Center
• Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, Hudson
• Largo Medical Center, Indian Rocks, Largo
• Tampa Community Hospital, Tampa
• St. Petersburg General Hospital, St. Petersburg
• Palm of Pasadena Hospital, St. Petersburg
• Blake Medical Center, Bradenton
• Northside Hospital, St. Petersburg
• St. Anthony’s Hospital, St. Petersburg
• Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills

D Grades

• Tampa General Hospital, Tampa
• Manatee Memorial Hospital, Bradenton

To read the full report, visit The Leapfrog Group online.

Patch editor Deb Belt contributed to this story.

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