Burlington County Hospitals Graded On Patient Safety: See Leapfrog Ratings

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Hospitals in the Cinnaminson area made improvements in protecting patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections according to the Fall 2022 Hospital Safety Grades report released Wednesday.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit healthcare watchdog group, used 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. Read more: NJ Safest Hospitals: Latest Ratings Released For Fall

In New Jersey, 33 hospitals received an A, 20 hospitals received a B, 14 hospitals received a C and 3 hospitals received a D grade. Zero hospitals received an F.

The three Jefferson Health hospitals in New Jersey, all in the southern counties, received "A" grades for safety. David May, NJ's Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer for Jefferson Health, said it was "gratifying" to be recognized for the healthcare group's commitment to safety.

"We are pleased to have our three New Jersey acute care hospitals again reach this level of achievement," said May, MD, FACS. "And we are especially proud of our doctors, nurses, and other valued team members, who have put in place best practice systems and processes to achieve excellent clinical outcomes for our patients.”

Here are the rankings for hospitals in Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester counties:

A ranking:

• Morristown Medical Center, Morristown
• Inspira Medical Center Vineland, Vineland
• Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, Cherry Hill
• Jefferson Washington Township Hospital, Turnersville
• Jefferson Stratford Hospital, Stratford
• Virtua Marlton Hospital, Marlton
• Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill, Mullica Hill

B ranking:

• Cooper University Hospital, Camden
• Virtua Voorhees Hospital, Voorhees
• Virtua Memorial Hospital dba Virtua Mt Holly Hospital, Mount Holly
• Virtua Willingboro Hospital, Willingboro

C ranking:

• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Camden

With the release of its fall report, The Leapfrog Group has analyzed hospital safety data for a decade. Most hospitals have improved over time under more public scrutiny, Leapfrog Group President and CEO Leah Binder said in a news release.

“For a long time, the healthcare community tried to improve safety, but progress stalled,” Binder said. “The big difference over this decade is that for the first time, we publicly reported each hospital’s record on patient safety, and that galvanized the kind of change we all hoped for.

“It’s not enough change, but we are on the right track,” she said.

Notably, hospitals reduced what are called “never events” — accidents and errors that never should have happened, the release said. Incidents of falls and trauma and incidents in which objects were unintentionally left in a patient’s body during surgery were down 25 percent, the watchdog group said.

Also, according to the report, progress on the number of patients treated for healthcare-associated infections declined to pre-pandemic levels.

Nearly two dozen hospitals have received straight-A reports every year since the Leapfrog Group began its safety grades in 2012. Search for your hospital’s fall 2022 safety grade and read more about the methodology.

Patch's Alexis Tarrazi contributed to this report.