Park Slope Hospital Gets C Safety Grade In National Ranking

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Park Slope's local hospital received a C grade in a recent report on healthcare safety nationwide.

Brooklyn Methodist Hospital on Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street earned just an average score in Leapfrog Group's Fall 2022 Hospital Safety Grades analysis released Wednesday.

New York Presbyterian, the healthcare organization that manages Brooklyn Methodist, said in a statement that the wellness of its patients comes first.

“The health and safety of our patients is our top priority," a spokespersons said. "We follow the most rigorous safety protocols in the industry and incorporate best practices and guidelines from leading medical societies including the CDC, NQF and AHRQ."

Leapfrog relies on letter grades to rank how hospitals protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections.

Brooklyn Methodist received below average grades in 14 out of 32 safety subcategories that examine how hospitals fare when it comes to surgery, infections, preventative care, staff and safety.

Most of Brooklyn Methodist's below average grades came in just slightly below the national norm. For example, it received a below average safety score of 1.38 for dangerous blood sores, but that's only slightly underneath the average of .58 considering the worst score was an 8.78.

But in one category, Brooklyn Methodist received a score that ranked it among the worst: Hand-washing. While the best hospitals received a 100 score, Brooklyn Methodist received the lowest score in the ranking: 15, well below the 69.55 average.

Death from treatable serious complications

• Best Score: 95.65
• Average score: 159.68
• Worst score: 206.37
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 166.93

Dangerous bed sores

• Best Score: 0.04
• Average score: 0.58
• Worst score: 8.78
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 1.38

Dangerous blood clot

• Best Score: 1.65
• Average score: 3.61
• Worst score: 8.41
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 3.82

Kidney injury after surgery

• Best Score: 0.58
• Average score: 1.42
• Worst score: 3.45
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 2.08

Surgical site infection after colon surgery

• Best Score: 0
• Average score: 0.80
• Worst score: 2.941
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 1.681

Accidental cuts and tears

• Best Score: 0.37
• Average score: 1.21
• Worst score: 3.97
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 1.45

Sepsis infection after surgery

• Best Score: 2.31
• Average score: 4.96
• Worst score: 9.73
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 5.26

Harmful Events

• Best Score: 0.60
• Average score: 1.00
• Worst score: 3.34
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 1.27

Safe medication administration

• Best Score: 100
• Average score: 87.03
• Worst score: 5
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 75

Hand-washing

• Best Score: 100
• Average score: 69.55
• Worst score: 15
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 15

Communication about discharge

• Best Score: 95
• Average score: 85.51
• Worst score: 64
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 84

Effective leadership to prevent errors

• Best Score: 120.00
• Average score: 116.32
• Worst score: 0.00
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 101.54

Communication with nurses

• Best Score: 97
• Average score: 90.15
• Worst score: 69
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 90

Responsiveness of hospital staff

• Best Score: 94
• Average score: 81.91
• Worst score: 57
• Brooklyn Methodist score: 77

Read more about how New York City hospitals fared here.

Matt Troutman contributed to this report.