New PA Hospital Safety Ratings: 57 Get 'A' Grade, 8 Get 'D'

In Pennsylvania, 57 hospitals received an "A" grade for patient safety, according to new fall 2020 ratings by the Leapfrog Group. In that same analysis, eight Pennsylvania hospitals received a "D" grade.

Another 27 hospitals earned a "B" grade in the analysis, while 29 got a "C."

Across the United States, the latest grades show 34 percent of hospitals nationwide earned an A, while 24 percent earned a B. A total of 35 percent earned a C, seven received a D and less than 1 percent received an F.

Those in Pennsylvania that received the D grade include: Brandywine Hospital, Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, Ohio Valley General Hospital, Phoenixville Hospital, Pottstown Hospital, Uniontown Hospital, Warren General Hospital and Wayne Memorial Hospital.

View the list of Pennsylvania hospital ratings, and see how your local hospital fared, here.

Leapfrog's safety grades are released by the nonprofit organization twice per year, in the spring and the fall. The ratings of more than 2,600 hospitals nationwide focus on accidents, injuries and infections, and help to assess how well a facility prevents medical errors and other harm to patients.

The group determines the hospital grades by looking through safety data reported in 2018 and 2019. The safety grade is the only rating focused entirely on how well hospitals protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections.

(You can read more about the letter grades here.)

The report does not take into account the strain the coronavirus outbreak is placing on some hospitals, with shortages of drugs and protection equipment.

"We see in the news every day the extraordinary courage of clinicians and staff caring for patients stricken by COVID-19," Binder said. "What's less apparent — yet equally laudable — are the untold efforts behind the scenes to protect patients. Hospitals' commitment to the fundamentals have saved lives too, like preventing infection, ensuring universal hand hygiene, and double and triple checking everything to avoid errors. We are grateful for the heroic efforts of hospitals across the Nation and applaud their efforts that are protecting our families."