Morris County Hospital Gets Top Marks In Latest Leapfrog Grade

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A Morristown hospital is among a slew of New Jersey medical facilities that received the highest rating from a watchdog agency as part of its twice-yearly "safety grades."

On Wednesday, Leapfrog gave Morristown Medical Center in Morristown its 16th consecutive "A" ranking. Summit's Overlook Medical Center, which is a part of the Atlantic Health System along with Morristown, also received an "A" rating.

See the full rating broken down by category here.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, grades general hospitals across the country with an "A," "B," "C," "D," or "F" based on more than 30 national performance measures that reflect errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.

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.

Learn more about their methodology here.

Since 2012, Leapfrog has released Safety Grades twice per year, and Morristown Medical Center has received an "A" the past 16 times in a row.

"These unprecedented grades for our hospitals underscore the commitment Atlantic Health System has toward safety," said Scott Leighty, Executive Vice President and Chief Health System Officer, of Atlantic Health System. "It’s a clear reflection of the quality care and attention to safety that patients and their loved ones receive each day from our talented physicians, nurses, leaders and other team members across each of our medical centers."

Morristown Medical Center ranked above average in almost every category that Leapfrog assessed. The hospital only fell below average in the safety section, reporting a higher number of dangerous blood clots and accidental cuts and tears in surgery.

"This new update of Hospital Safety Grades shows that, at the national level, we saw deterioration in patient safety with the pandemic," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "But four of five Atlantic Health System hospitals received an ‘A’ despite those challenges. I congratulate all the leaders, staff, volunteers and clinicians who together made that possible."

New Jersey led the country in the number of hospitals receiving an "A" grade for the latest round of rankings. In total, 31 hospitals received an A, 17 hospitals received a B, 11 hospitals received a C and zero hospitals received a D grade. No hospitals received an F.