72 Georgia Hospitals Graded on Patient Safety: 16 'A' Grades; 6 Graded 'D'

ATLANTA, GA — Sixteen Georgia hospitals received an "A" on new safety grades released Monday by the nonprofit Leapfrog Group. Georgia had no "F"-grade hospitals. Top hospitals included Cartersville Medical Center, Wellstar Paulding Hospital, Coffee Regional Medical Center and Wellstar Douglas Hospital.

The Leapfrog Group uses "30 evidence-based measures of patient safety," including patient injuries, accidents and infections. Numerical scores are converted into letter grades. Of more than 2,600 hospitals graded nationwide, there were 844 "A"-grade hospitals and only 20 "F"-grade hospitals. Leapfrog is a nonprofit founded by large employers in 2000 to improve health care quality and safety.

Georgia was ranked 36th when compared to the percentage of hospitals in other states with "A" grades. That was behind Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

States that have shown improvement have put a priority on safety, says Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder.

“In the fast-changing health care landscape, patients should be aware that hospitals are not all equally competent at protecting them from injuries and infections," she said in a statement. "We believe everyone has the right to know which hospitals are the safest and encourage community members to call on their local hospitals to change, and on their elected officials to spur them to action."

See States Ranked Best to Worst in Hospital Safety

Leapfrog's grades aren't the only ratings that consumers can use to hold local hospitals accountable. Some of the data used by Leapfrog comes from federal measurements shared at Medicare's "Hospital Compare" website. On that site, hospitals are given 1- to 5-star ratings.

Here's the Georgia hospital grades from Leapfrog:

• Athens Regional Medical Center, B
• Atlanta Medical Center, C
• Atlanta Medical Center South Campus, C
• Barrow Regional Medical Center, C
• Candler Hospital, C
• Cartersville Medical Center, A
• Coffee Regional Medical Center, A
• Coliseum Medical Centers, C
• Coliseum Northside Hospital, A
• Colquitt Regional Medical Center, A
• Crisp Regional Hospital, C
• Dekalb Medical at Hillandale, D
• Dekalb Medical Center, D
• Doctors Hospital of Augusta, C
• East Georgia Regional Medical Center, C
• Eastside Medical Center, C
• Emory Johns Creek Hospital, C
• Emory St. Joseph's Hospital, C
• Emory University Hospital, C
• Emory University Hospital Midtown, D
• Fairview Park Hospital, A
• Floyd Medical Center, C
• Georgia Regents Medical Center, D
• Gordon Hospital, A
• Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation, C
• Gwinnett Medical Center ‐ Duluth, C
• Gwinnett Medical Center Lawrenceville, C
• Hamilton Medical Center, C
• Houston Medical Center, A
• John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, C
• Meadows Regional Medical Center, C
• Memorial University Medical Center, C
• Midtown Medical Center, C
• North Fulton Hospital, B
• Northeast Georgia Medical Center, C
• Northside Forsyth Hospital, C
• Northside Hospital, C
• Northside Hospital Cherokee, C
• Oconee Regional Medical Center, B
• Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, C
• Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (North Campus), C
• Piedmont Fayette Hospital, B
• Piedmont Henry Hospital, C
• Piedmont Hospital, C
• Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, A
• Piedmont Newnan Hospital, A
• Piedmont Newton Hospital, A
• Redmond Regional Medical Center, A
• Rockdale Medical Center, D
• Smith Northview Hospital, B
• South Georgia Medical Center, B
• Southeast Georgia Health System ‐ Brunswick Campus, C
• Southeast Georgia Health System ‐ Camden Campus, C
• Southern Regional Medical Center, B
• St. Francis Hospital of Columbus, C
• St. Joseph's Hospital, C
• St. Mary's Health Care System, Inc, B
• St. Mary's Sacred Heart Hospital, B
• Stephens County Hospital, D
• Tanner Medical Center of Carrollton, B
• Tanner Medical Center of Villa Rica, B
• The Medical Center, Navicent Health, C
• Tift Regional Medical Center, A
• University Hospital, A
• Upson Regional Medical Center, A
• Wayne Memorial Hospital, B
• Wellstar Cobb Hospital, B
• Wellstar Douglas Hospital, A
• Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, B
• Wellstar Paulding Hospital, A
• WellStar Spalding Regional Hospital, C
• Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center, B

See more about the safety grades, including the methodology.

Image via Shuttestock