New IL Hospital Safety Ratings Released: 6 Get 'D' Grade, 29 Get 'A'

ILLINOIS — More than two dozen Illinois hospitals received top grades in protecting patient safety, even as the average risk of contracting deadly infections remained elevated nationwide after spiking to a five-year high during the pandemic, according to the spring 2023 hospital safety grades released Wednesday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog.

Patient experience measures — like communication from doctors — also declined, according to the report. Leapfrog said the findings should be a wake-up call to hospitals nationwide.

The Leapfrog Group uses an academic grading scale with five letter grades to score nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide on more than 30 measures of patient safety. Leapfrog says its hospital rating system is the only one in the country focusing solely on a hospital’s ability to protect patients from preventable errors.

In Illinois, 29 hospitals received an A, 30 hospitals received a B, 43 hospitals received a C and six hospitals received a D grade. One hospital received an F.

Here are the ratings, according to Leapfrog:

A

• NorthShore University Health System, Evanston
• Blessing Hospital, Quincy
• NorthShore University Health System, Glenview
• Rush Copley Medical Center, Aurora
• MacNeal Hospital, Berwyn
• Rush Oak Park Hospital
• University of Chicago Medicine Advent Health, La Grange
• University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago
• St. Bernard Hospital, Chicago
• NorthShore University Health System, Highland Park
• Northwestern Medicine, McHenry
• Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
• University of Chicago Advent Health, Hinsdale
• Northwestern Medicine, Lake Forest
• FHN Memorial Hospital, Freeport
• Ascension Mercy Hospital, Aurora
• OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Evergreen Park
• Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago
• HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, O’Fallon
• Elmhurst Memorial Hospital
• Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, Geneva
• Silver Cross Hospital, New Lenox
• Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage, Winfield
• Ascension Alexian Brothers, Elk Grove Village
• Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee, DeKalb
• Ascension Saint Alexius, Hoffman Estates
• University of Chicago Medicine Advent Health, Glendale Heights
• University of Chicago Medicine Advent Health, Bolingbrook
• Northwestern Medicine Huntley

B

• Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton
• Loyola Gottlieb Hospital, Melrose Park
• UnityPoint Health Proctor Hospital, Peoria
• HHHS St. Anthony Memorial Hospital, Effingham
• SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital, Centralia
• SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Mt. Vernon
• OSF St. Mary Medical Center, Galesburg
• OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria
• Ascension St. Francis Hospital, Evanston
• Loretto Hospital, Chicago
• McDonough District Hospital, Macomb
• Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana
• OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, Urbana
• Ascension Resurrection Hospital, Chicago
• John H. Stroger Hospital, Chicago
• Carle BroMenn Medical Center, Normal
• HHHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, Breese
• Carle Richland Memorial Hospital, Springfield
• Ascension St. Mary Hospital, Kankakee
• OSF St. Joseph Hospital, Bloomington
• Jackson Park Hospital, Chicago
• Memorial Hospital, Belleville
• Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee
• Humboldt Park Health, Chicago
• Unity Point Health, Peoria
• Edward Hospital, Naperville
• OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford
• Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
• Anderson Hospital, Maryville

C

• Graham Hospital, Canton
• Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, Joliet
• Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital, Dixon
• Mt. Sinai Hospital, Chicago
• Advocate Sherman Hospital, Elgin
• CGH Medical Center, Sterling
• Advocate Trinity Hospital, Chicago
• West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park
• OSF St. Anthony’s Hospital, Alton
• HHS St. John’s Hospital, Springfield
• Northwestern Medicine, Palos Heights
• Weiss Memorial Hospital, Chicago
• Vista Medical Center, Waukegan
• OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center, Danville
• Saint Anthony Hospital, Chicago
• Morris Hospital, Morris
• Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center, Ottawa
• Swedish Hospital, Chicago
• Thorek Memorial Hospital, Chicago
• UnityPoint Health, Peoria
• Holy Cross Hospital, Chicago
• Decatur Memorial Hospital
• St. Margaret’s Health, Spring Valley
• University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago
• OSF St. James, Pontiac
• SIH Memorial Hospital, Carbondale
• Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago
• Heartland Regional Medical Center, Marion
• Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, Mattoon
• Ingalls Memorial Hospital, Harvey
• Advocate Condell Memorial Medical Center, Libertyville
• Advocate Christ Hospital, Oak Lawn
• Ascension St. Joseph, Elgin
• Advocate Lutheran Hospital, Park Ridge
• Ascension St. Joseph, Chicago
• UW Health Swedish American Hospital, Rockford
• Javon Bea Hospital, Rockford
• Advocate South Suburban Hospital, Hazel Crest
• Genesis Medical Center, Silvis
• Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood
• Trinity Rock Island
• Trinity Moline
• Advocate Good Shepherd, Barrington

D

• SIH Herrin Hospital, Herrin
• Gateway Regional Health System, Granite City
• Franciscan Health, Olympia Fields
• St. Margaret’s Health, Peru
• Community First Medical Center, Chicago
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove

F

• Roseland Community Hospital, Chicago

High rates of three health care-associated infections, or HAIs, “should stop hospitals in their tracks,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a news release, noting that “infections like these can be life for death for some patients.”

“We recognize the tremendous strain the pandemic put on hospitals and their workforce, but alarming findings like these indicate hospitals must recommit to patient safety and build more resilience,” Binder said.

The problematic infections are Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA; central line-associated bloodstream infections, or CLABSI; and catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTI. When compared to rankings that covered the period immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak, the analysis found an increased infection ratio for all three infections. The spring 2023 rankings cover late 2021 and 2022.

However, another such infection, Clostridioides difficile, or C.Diff, improved and there was no significant change for surgical site infections post surgery, the report said. The standardized infection ratio used to measure changes in the rates of infections compares the actual number of reported infections to the predicted number at each hospital.

“Not only are HAIs among the leading causes of death in the U.S., they also increase length of hospitalization stays and add to costs,” Binder said. “Our pre-pandemic data showed improved HAI measures, but the spring 2023 Safety Grade data spotlights how hospital responses to the pandemic led to a decline in patient safety and HAI management.”

Patient experience measures included communication with nurses and doctors, staff responsiveness, and communication about medicine and discharge information. Nationally, the average of all five measures declined when compared to pre-pandemic measures, according to the report.