Two Rush University System for Health hospitals again were rated among the best in the country for safety in the latest grades awarded by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization. Rush University Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital both received A grades, the highest possible.
Leapfrog announced the latest of its twice-yearly safety grades today, rating more than 2,600 hospitals in the United States for their success at avoiding errors, infections, and accidents that can harm patients.
Rush University Medical Center now has received 14 A grades from Leapfrog, which also named the Medical Center a Top Teaching Hospital last week. Rush Oak Park has received 9 consecutive A’s and 11 in all. Rush Copley Medical Center received a B grade after receiving A’s in each of the 17 previous scores released since Leapfrog began rating hospitals on safety in 2012.
“Rush University Medical Center is committed to providing care as safely as possible, as demonstrated by the extensive precautions we’ve taken to keep our patients safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud that The Leapfrog Group again has confirmed that the care patients receive at Rush is among the safest anywhere,” said Dr. Omar Lateef, president and CEO of Rush University Medical Center.
“It's an honor to receive this recognition, and it's a testament to our great staff, who work to ensure patients are cared for in the safest environment," said Bruce Elegant, president and CEO of Rush Oak Park Hospital. “The fact that we have consistently earned an A grade is a reflection of the commitment and the dedication of the medical, nursing and professional staff at Rush Oak Park Hospital."
“Rush Copley was one of only 32 hospitals in the nation to earn 17 straight A’s since 2012. We are proud of our past Leapfrog grade success, and given that we narrowly missed receiving another A grade this time, we fully expect the hospital to be back to an A in the next grade release,” said John Diederich, president and CEO of Rush Copley Medical Center.
Measure of hospital safety
Leapfrog uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades of A, B, C, D or F every six months. The grade represents each hospital's overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries, infections and other kinds of harm while they are in the hospital.
The Leapfrog Group compiles the Hospital Safety Grade under the guidance of the nation's leading experts on patient safety in order to provide the public with information they can use to protect themselves and their families. A full analysis of the data and methodology used is available on the Hospital Safety Grade website.
“We are extremely grateful to hospital leaders and health care workers who have remained steadfast in prioritizing patient safety as our nation battles COVID-19,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”
