5 MN Hospitals Get 'A' Rating On New Safety Grades: See Full List

MINNESOTA — Five hospitals in Minnesota were given top marks in The Leapfrog Group’s fall 2024 hospital safety grades released Friday.

The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit healthcare watchdog group that grades hospitals twice a year, assigns letter grades ranging from “A” to “F,” for 3,000 general hospitals on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents, and infections.

Overall, hospitals have made great strides since the pandemic years, when the risk of contracting deadly infections was elevated nationwide, but more work needs to be done, the Leapfrog Group said in a news release.

Five of 44 Minnesota hospitals, or 11.40 percent, were given an “A.”

Minnesota ranked 42nd among states for the number of hospitals earning the top letter grade.

Grade A (Fall 2024)

• Mayo Clinic-Rochester - Rochester | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Mayo Clinic Health System-Red Wing - Red Wing | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Mayo Clinic Health System-Mankato - Mankato | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin - Austin | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Mayo Clinic Health System-Fairmont - Fairmont | Spring 2024 Grade: A

Grade B (Fall 2024)

• Hennepin Healthcare - Minneapolis | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Cambridge Medical Center - Cambridge | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Abbott Northwestern Hospital - Minneapolis | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Buffalo Hospital - Buffalo | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• M Health Fairview Northland Medical Center - Princeton | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Hutchinson Health Hospital - Hutchinson | Spring 2024 Grade: C

Grade C (Fall 2024)

• Essentia Health Saint Mary's Medical Center - Duluth | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Olmsted Medical Center - Rochester | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Northfield Hospital - Northfield | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Alomere Health - Alexandria | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• CentraCare - St. Cloud Hospital - St. Cloud | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• United Hospital - Saint Paul | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Fairview Range - Hibbing | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Winona Health - Winona | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• St. Luke's Hospital - Duluth | Spring 2024 Grade: D
• M Health Fairview Lakes Medical Center - Wyoming | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Lake Region Healthcare Hospital - Fergus Falls | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Methodist Hospital - St. Louis Park | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Ridgeview Medical Center - Waconia | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital - Grand Rapids | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Lakeview Hospital - Stillwater | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Owatonna Hospital - Owatonna | Spring 2024 Grade: A
• Allina Health Faribault Medical Center - Faribault | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Essentia Health - Saint Joseph's Medical Center - Brainerd | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital - Edina | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• CentraCare - Rice Memorial Hospital - Willmar | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Sanford Bemidji Medical Center - Bemidji | Spring 2024 Grade: D
• Essentia Health St. Mary's - Detroit Lakes - Detroit Lakes | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• St. Francis Regional Medical Center - Shakopee | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Regions Hospital - Saint Paul | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• Mercy Hospital - Coon Rapids | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Mercy Hospital - Unity Campus - Fridley | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital - Burnsville | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• M Health Fairview St. John's Hospital - Maplewood | Spring 2024 Grade: C
• M Health Fairview Woodwinds Hospital - Woodbury | Spring 2024 Grade: B
• Maple Grove Hospital - Maple Grove | Spring 2024 Grade: B

Grade D (Fall 2024)

• North Memorial Health Hospital - Robbinsdale | Spring 2024 Grade: D
• M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center - Minneapolis | Spring 2024 Grade: D
• Essentia Health - Virginia - Virginia | Spring 2024 Grade: C

For the third grading cycle, Utah tops the list with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals, followed, respectively, by Virginia, Connecticut, North Carolina, New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and South Carolina. California ranked in the top 10 for the first time since the fall of 2014.

The fall 2024 ratings show improvement in patient safety across several performance measures, including notable improvements on healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene, and medication safety. Preventable deaths and harm in hospitals have long been a major policy focus for The Leapfrog Group.

While noting the gains hospitals have made in patient safety have saved “countless lives,” Leapfrog Group president and CEO Leah Binder said in a news release that medical centers nationwide need to accelerate their progress “because no one should have to die from a preventable error in a hospital.”

Binder said significant variation in performance continues across U.S. hospitals. For example, four states — Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont — had no “A” hospitals.

“That’s why it’s so important for people to consult grades when making decisions about seeking care,” Binder said. “All hospitals are not the same.”

Nationally, healthcare-acquired infections reached their highest peak since 2016 in the fall 2022 safety grades, but they have declined dramatically, according to the report.

Also, central line-associated bloodstream infections were down 38 percent, catheter-associated urinary tract infections were down 36, and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections decreased by 34 percent.

For more information on the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.