Long Island Hospital Safety Grades 2022: The Best And Worst

NEW YORK — Several hospitals in New York received top marks, but others didn't quite measure up in the Spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades report released Tuesday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog group.

The latest ratings reflect care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leapfrog Group said its and other groups' research showed the pandemic reversed years of progress in patient safety.

The pandemic has had a negative effect on "health care delivery at every level and setting, from staffing shortages to increased infections to the very care patients receive," according to the Adult Patient Experience at Acute Care Hospitals survey, also released Tuesday by The Leapfrog Group.

"The health care workforce has faced unprecedented levels of pressure during the pandemic, and as a result, patients' experience with their care appears to have suffered," Leapfrog Group president and CEO Leah Binder said. "We commend the workforce for their heroic efforts these past few years and now strongly urge hospital leadership to recommit to improved care — from communication to responsiveness — and get back on track with patient safety outcomes."

In New York, 19 hospitals received an "A" grade, six hospitals received a "B" grade, 81 hospitals received a "C" grade and 34 hospitals received a "D" grade. Zero hospitals received an "F" grade.

Here are the rankings, according to Leapfrog:

"A" Grade

• Aurelia Osborn Fox Memorial Hospital (Oneonta)
• Catholic Health System - Kenmore Mercy Hospital (Kenmore)
• Catholic Health System - Sisters of Charity Hospital (Buffalo)
• Guthrie Corning Hospital (Corning)
• Lenox Hill Hospital (New York)
• Mather Hospital (Port Jefferson)
• North Shore University Hospital (Manhasset)
• Northern Dutchess Hospital (Rhinebeck)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Queens (Jamaica)
• NYC Health Hospitals - Metropolitan (New York)
• NYU Langone Hospital - Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
• NYU Langone Hospital - Long Island (Mineola)
• NYU Langone Hospitals (New York)
• Putnam Hospital (Carmel)
• St. Anthony Community Hospital (Warwick)
• St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center (Roslyn)
• The Mount Sinai Hospital (New York)
• UPMC Chautauqua (Jamestown)
• White Plains Hospital (White Plains)

"B" Grade

• Auburn Community Hospital (Auburn)
• Bon Secours Community Hospital (Port Jervis)
• Catholic Health System - Mercy Hospital of Buffalo (Buffalo)
• Crouse Hospital (Syracuse)
• Garnet Health Medical Center (Middletown)
• Huntington Hospital (Huntington)
• Mount Sinai West (New York)
• South Shore University Hospital (Bay Shore)
• St Peter's Hospital (Albany)
• St. Charles Hospital (Port Jefferson)
• St. Joseph Hospital (Bethpage)
• St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center (Syracuse)
• Syosset Hospital (Syosset)
• The Brooklyn Hospital Center (Brooklyn)
• Unity Hospital (Rochester)
• Wyoming County Community Hospital (Warsaw)

"C" Grade

• Adirondack Medical Center - Saranac Lake (Saranac Lake)
• Alice Hyde Medical Center (Malone)
• Arnot Ogden Medical Center (Elmira)
• BMHMC DBA LI COMMUNITY HOSPITAL (Patchogue)
• Brooks Memorial Hospital (Dunkirk)
• Buffalo General Medical Center (Buffalo)
• Canton-Potsdam Hospital (Potsdam)
• Catholic Health System - Mount St. Mary's Hospital (Lewiston)
• Cayuga Medical Center (Ithaca)
• Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (Plattsburgh)
• Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic (Clifton Springs)
• Columbia Memorial Hospital (Hudson)
• Erie County Medical Center (Buffalo)
• F.F. Thompson Hospital (Canandaigua)
• Garnet Health Medical Center - Catskills (Harris)
• Geneva General Hospital (Geneva)
• Glen Cove Hospital (Glen Cove)
• Glens Falls Hospital (Glens Falls)
• Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
• Guthrie Cortland Medical Center (Cortland)
• Highland Hospital (Rochester)
• Jamaica Hospital Medical Center (Jamaica)
• Jones Memorial Hospital (Wellsville)
• Long Island Jewish Forest Hills (Forest Hills)
• Long Island Jewish Medical Center (New Hyde Park)
• Long Island Jewish Valley Stream (Valley Stream)
• Massena Hospital (Massena)
• Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital (Williamsville)
• Montefiore Nyack Hospital (Nyack)
• Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall (Newburgh)
• Mount Sinai Morningside (New York)
• Mount Sinai Queens (Long Island City)
• Mt. Sinai South Nassau (Oceanside)
• Nathan Littauer Hospital (Gloversville)
• New York - Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (Brooklyn)
• New York-Presbyterian Queens (Flushing)
• New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital (Cortlandt Manor)
• New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital (Bronxville)
• New York-Presbyterian, Lower Manhattan Hospital (New York)
• New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York)
• Newark-Wayne Community Hospital (Newark)
• New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital (New York)
• New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York)
• Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center (Niagara Falls)
• NYC Health and Hospitals - Jacobi (Bronx)
• NYC Health and Hospitals - Lincoln (Bronx)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Bellevue (New York)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Elmhurst (Elmhurst)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Kings County (Brooklyn)
• NYC Health and Hospitals North Central Bronx (Bronx)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Woodhull (Brooklyn)
• Olean General Hospital (Olean)
• Oneida Health Hospital (Oneida)
• Oswego Hospital (Oswego)
• Peconic Bay Medical Center (Riverhead)
• Phelps Hospital (Sleepy Hollow)
• Plainview Hospital (Plainview)
• Richmond University Medical Center (Staten Island)
• Rochester General Hospital (Rochester)
• Rome Memorial Hospital (Rome)
• Samaritan Hospital - Albany Memorial Campus (Albany)
• Samaritan Hospital - Main Campus (Troy)
• Samaritan Medical Center (Watertown)
• Saratoga Hospital (Saratoga Springs)
• Southampton Hospital (Southampton)
• St Joseph's Hospital (Elmira)
• St. Barnabas Hospital (Bronx)
• St. Catherine of Siena Hospital (Smithtown)
• St. John's Episcopal Hospital (Far Rockaway)
• St. John's Riverside Hospital - Andrus Pavilion (Yonkers)
• St. John's Riverside Hospital - Dobbs Ferry Pavilion (Dobbs Ferry)
• St. John's Riverside Hospital - ParkCare Pavilion (Yonkers)
• St. Joseph's Medical Center of Yonkers (Yonkers)
• Stony Brook University Hospital (Stony Brook)
• Strong Memorial Hospital (Rochester)
• UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital (Norwich)
• UHS Wilson Medical Center (Johnson City)
• United Memorial Medical Center (Batavia)
• Upstate University Hospital - Community Campus (Syracuse)
• Vassar Brothers Medical Center (Poughkeepsie)
• Wyckoff Heights Medical Center (Brooklyn)

"D" Grade

• Albany Medical Center (Albany)
• Bassett Medical Center (Cooperstown)
• BronxCare Health System (Bronx)
• Brookdale Hospital Medical Center (Brooklyn)
• Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (Ogdensburg)
• Coney Island Hospital (Brooklyn)
• Eastern Niagara Hospital Lockport (Lockport)
• Ellis Hospital (Schenectady)
• Faxton St Luke's Healthcare (Utica)
• Flushing Hospital Medical Center (Flushing)
• Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center (West Islip)
• Interfaith Medical Center (Brooklyn)
• Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn)
• Mercy Medical Center (Rockville Centre)
• MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center (Poughkeepsie)
• Montefiore Einstein Campus (Bronx)
• Montefiore Moses Campus (Bronx)
• Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital (New Rochelle)
• Montefiore Wakefield Campus (Bronx)
• Mount Sinai Beth Israel (New York)
• Mount Sinai Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
• Nassau University Medical Center (East Meadow)
• New York Community Hospital (Brooklyn)
• Northern Westchester Hospital (Mount Kisco)
• NYC Health & Hospitals - Harlem (New York)
• Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital (Binghamton)
• Saint Mary's Hospital at Amsterdam (Amsterdam)
• St. Elizabeth Medical Center (Utica)
• Staten Island University Hospital - North Campus (Staten Island)
• SUNY Downstate Medical Center University Hospital of Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
• UHS - Binghamton General Hospital (Binghamton)
• Upstate University Hospital (Syracuse)
• UR Medicine Noyes Health (Dansville)
• Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla)

The letter grades assigned to nearly 3,000 U.S general hospitals were based 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, accidents, injuries, and infections.

Included in the 30 are five that research has shown to directly affect patient outcomes, but can be improved with greater communication between caregivers and patients — the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, infections from colon surgery, MRSA (Staphylococcus) blood laboratory-identified events, and facility-wide inpatient diarrhea events.

When there's communication about medications, for example, that can lead to fewer hospitalizations for conditions such as sepsis and blood clots, fewer complications, and decreases in the incidence of respiratory failure, Leapfrog said.

Among the findings:

• Thirty-three percent of hospitals received an "A," 24 percent received a "B," 36 percent received a "C," 7 percent received a "D," and fewer than 1 percent received an "F"
• The states with the highest percentages of "A" hospitals are North Carolina, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, and Michigan.
• There were no "A" hospitals in Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, or the District of Columbia.

To determine each hospital's grade, a panel of medical experts selected 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety such as postoperative sepsis, blood leakage, and kidney injury. They then determined the weight of each measure based on evidence, opportunity for improvement, and patient impact.

Data on each measure was collected through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Information from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, available to all hospitals to complete, also affects grades.

Currently, Leapfrog does not assign grades to military or Veterans Administration hospitals, critical access hospitals, specialty hospitals, children's hospitals, or outpatient surgery centers.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade methodology has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety.

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