Saint Clare's Denville Hospital Gets 'A' Safety Grade

DENVILLE, NJ — Saint Clare's Denville Hospital received high marks once again, earning an "A" in hospital safety, according to Fall 2022 Hospital Safety Grades report that The Leapfrog Group released Wednesday.

The Leapfrog Group releases hospital-safety rankings bi-annually and has given Saint Clare's an A in each grading period since the beginning of 2019.

Leapfrog, a nonprofit health care watchdog group, grades hospitals twice a year, assigning letter grades from "A" to "F" based on each hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. 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. See the full list of hospitals and how they ranked here.

Here's how the Denville hospital performed in five categories that Leapfrog evaluated:

Infections

• MRSA Infection - Not Available
• C. diff Infection - Below Average
• Infection in the blood - Above Average
• Infection in the urinary tract - Below Average
• Surgical site infection after colon surgery - Above Average
• Sepsis infection after surgery - Above Average

Problems with Surgery

• Dangerous object left in patient's body - Above Average
• Surgical wound splits open - Above Average
• Death from serious treatable complications - Below Average
• Blood Leakage - Above Average
• Kidney injury after surgery - Above Average
• Serious breathing problem - Above Average
• Accidental cuts and tears - Above Average

Safety Problems

• Harmful events - Above Average
• Dangerous bed sores - Above Average
• Patient falls and injuries - Above Average
• Falls causing broken hips - Above Average
• Collapsed lung - Above Average
• Dangerous blood clot - Above Average
• Air or gas bubble in the blood - Above Average

Practices to Prevent Errors

• Doctors order medications through a computer - Above Average
• Safe medication administration - Above Average
• Handwashing - Below Average
• Communication about medicines - Below Average
• Communication about discharge - Above Average
• Staff work together to prevent errors - Above Average

Doctors, Nurses and Hospital Staff

• Effective leadership to prevent errors - Above Average
• Enough qualified nurses - Above Average
• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients - Above Average
• Communication with doctors - Below Average
• Communication with nurses - Below Average
• Responsiveness of hospital staff- Below Average

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 in a statement. "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."

The full methodology for the 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is available online.