San Antonio, Texas - November 8, 2018 – Seven Methodist Healthcare System hospitals were awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes the efforts of Methodist Healthcare in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States. The Leapfrog Group is a national organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.
Of more than 2,600 hospitals graded, only 32 percent earned an ‘A’. Methodist Healthcare facilities receiving A’s include Methodist Hospital, Methodist Children’s Hospital, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital, Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, Methodist Stone Oak Hospital, Northeast Methodist Hospital, and Methodist Hospital South. Making the safety honor roll is not new for these hospitals. Metropolitan Methodist Hospital earned an A for the fifth time in a row, and Northeast Methodist Hospital has earned an A for the fourth time in a row. Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital earned an A for the third time in a row, and Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital earned an A for the second time in a row.
“We are committed to meeting the highest safety standards in the industry for our patients and our commitment has been quite consistent across Methodist hospitals,” said Allen Harrison, President and CEO, Methodist Healthcare. “A patient entering a Methodist Healthcare System hospital has a lesser chance of succumbing to infections, surgical errors and patient injuries due to our focus on quality and safety. It is an unbelievable achievement to continue to rank among the safest hospitals in the region.”
In addition to these recent scores, in 2017 Metropolitan Methodist Hospital was the only hospital in San Antonio to ever win the Top General Hospital Award from Leapfrog and one of only three Texas hospitals recognized that year. This award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive.
“Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety Grades recognize hospitals like those in the Methodist Healthcare System that focus on advancing patient safety. This ranking provides an important resource for patients, and a benchmark for hospitals, to determine how care at one hospital compares to others in a region,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an A Hospital Safety Grade deserve to be recognized for their efforts in preventing medical harm and errors.”
Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
Methodist Healthcare facilities are among the safest hospitals in the region. The seven Methodist Healthcare facilities recognized were among 855 across the United States awarded an A in the Fall 2018 update of grades. To see Methodist Healthcare’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.
About Methodist Healthcare of San Antonio
Methodist Healthcare System – San Antonio is the largest provider of health care in South and Central Texas with 26 facilities including nine hospitals serving over 94,000 inpatients and 500,000 outpatients annually. The Methodist Healthcare team is comprised of 10,000 employees, making Methodist Healthcare the second largest private employer in San Antonio. The Texas Quality Foundation selected Methodist Healthcare to receive the 2014 Texas Award for Performance Excellence. Methodist Healthcare is the first and only health care system in South Texas to receive this award, which requires an organization to demonstrate its commitment to the highest quality standards. With more than 2,700 credentialed physicians, Methodist Healthcare provides the largest array of medical services in the region including neurosurgery, cardiovascular services, oncology and women’s services. Visit www.SAHealth.com to learn more.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.