Chattanooga, TN –Parkridge Medical Center and Parkridge East Hospital both received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit upholding the standard of patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. This national distinction celebrates Parkridge Medical Center and Parkridge East Hospital’s achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harm and errors. The new grades reflect performance primarily during the height of the pandemic.
“Earning ‘A’ grades from The Leapfrog Group underscores the fact that patient safety is a foundational part of our culture at Parkridge Health,” said Chris Cosby, president and CEO of Parkridge Health System. “Patient safety is paramount to our healthcare philosophy at Parkridge Health System, and such recognition demonstrates the hard work and commitment of our colleagues to the communities we serve.”
The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to healthcare quality and safety. The Leapfrog Safety Grade uses as many as 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care.
“This new update of Hospital Safety Grades shows that, at the national level, we saw deterioration in patient safety with the pandemic,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “But Parkridge Medical Center and Parkridge East Hospital received an ‘A’ despite those challenges. I congratulate all the leaders, staff, volunteers and clinicians who together made that possible.”
“Parkridge East and Parkridge Medical Center have a long-standing reputation for excellent patient experience, and safety is a key part of that,” said Will Windham, CEO of Parkridge East. “I’m so proud of our colleagues for earning national recognition for their efforts to provide the best possible care for our patients.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.