Nine Mercy Hospitals Earn A Grades

National nonprofit group applauds patient safety practices

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Nov 07, 2019, 11:00 ET

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercy Hospitals in nine communities across multiple states have received A grades in The Leapfrog Group's Fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grade. These nine Mercy locations were among only 877 hospitals across the country to earn the highest possible grade from the national nonprofit patient safety advocate group.

Leapfrog's Safety Grade assesses hospitals nationwide based on the outcomes of their efforts to prevent medical errors, infections and other patient harm, and gives traditional letter grades that reflect their ability to keep their patients safe. In addition to its nine A grades, three Mercy hospitals earned B ratings, demonstrating a consistent commitment to quality and safety across the board.

"I commend Mercy for having so many hospitals with As ‒ and no hospital below a B ‒ in the latest update to the Hospital Safety Grades," said Leah Binder, Leapfrog president and CEO. "That's exceptional performance for a health system. We congratulate the board, leadership, volunteers, clinicians and staff who put their patients first."

Dr. Keith Starke, Mercy's senior vice president and chief quality officer, echoes Leapfrog's sentiments.

"Every member of the patient care team across Mercy's communities should be incredibly proud of the work they do to keep their patients safe," said Dr. Starke. "Taking care of patients doesn't just mean treating symptoms, but also doing everything possible not to add unnecessary suffering in people's most difficult times. We appreciate this recognition of our dedication to safe, quality care."

Mercy's hospitals in the following communities received A grades: Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas; Jefferson County, Joplin, Lebanon, St. Louis and Washington in Missouri; and Ardmore and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma.

These grades come on the heels of Mercy having been named a top five large U.S. health system for 2019, and Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, Mercy Hospital St. Louis and Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City earning top 100 hospital recognition by IBM Watson Health.

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, Leapfrog uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

To see Mercy'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.

SOURCE Mercy