Forest Hills Hospital Earns 'C' In New Safety Ranking

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — As Queen's healthcare workers continue to fight a long, hard battle against the coronavirus, some hospitals are faring better than others in patient safety, according to a new ranking.

The pandemic reversed years of progress in patient safety, according to a national ranking of patient safety in U.S. hospitals — including eight in Queens — released this week by the Leapfrog Group, a healthcare watchdog nonprofit.

Out of the hospitals graded in Queens only one was given an A, another got a D, and the rest (six) received Cs — including Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, which operates under the Northwell Health hospital network.

Northwell, though, pointed out that, as in years past, it did not respond to Leapfrog's survey, citing "concerns over whether the survey truly correlates with the level of quality and safety in our hospitals."

Instead, the non-profit based its grades on publicly available information and estimated data. "Therefore [the survey result] does not reflect a complete picture of the quality and safety in our hospitals," a hospital spokesperson said, noting that LIJ Forest Hills has earned top ratings from other organizations.

The hospital plans to participate in future Leapfrog surveys, due to customer engagement with the ratings, and said it expects to see LIJ Forest Hills "in very good standing for the Leapfrog survey coming out in the Fall."

Forest Hills' Council Member Lynn Schulman, who chairs the Council's committee on health and has made healthcare among her top legislative priorities, told Patch she views the Leapfrog grade as part of a larger picture when it comes to patient safety.

"While I am concerned about the grade received by Forest Hills LIJ, which is a major healthcare provider in our community, having worked with the Leapfrog Survey in the past, I realize it is one of many measures used with regard to patient safety and the quality of services provided to patients," she said in a written statement.

"Moving forward, I look forward to working with Forest Hills LIJ to ensure our neighborhoods receive the best medical care."

Forest Hills, though, is not alone in its relatively low safety grade — only six hospitals citywide did well enough to earn an A grade, according to the Leapfrog ranking.

"The health care workforce has faced unprecedented levels of pressure during the pandemic," Leapfrog Group president and CEO Leah Binder said in a news release. "As a result, patients' experience with their care appears to have suffered."

The ranking analyzes a hospital's ability to prevent errors that harm its patients, including protecting patients from injuries and infections, based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Leapfrog's Hospital Survey, according to a press release.

Nationally, a third of hospitals received an A grade, 24 percent received Bs, 36 percent received Cs and less than 10 percent received Ds or Fs, according to the organization.

Safety grades are released by the nonprofit organization twice per year, in the spring and the fall.
The ratings of nearly 3,000 hospitals across the country focus on accidents, injuries and infections, and help to assess how well a facility prevents medical errors and other harm to patients.

Find a full list of Queen's hospital safety scores here.