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ST. LOUIS – Mercy Hospitals in seven communities across Missouri and Arkansas have received A grades in The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2023 Hospital Safety Grade. These seven Mercy locations were among only 29% of 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 seven A grades, three Mercy hospitals earned B ratings, demonstrating a consistent commitment to quality and safety across the board.
“Patients should expect safe, high-quality care whenever the come to a Mercy hospital,” said Kat Nelson, Mercy chief quality officer. “Our co-workers, whether providing direct clinical care or support services, know these expectations are high and strive to meet them. An A safety grade validates the effort of our co-workers and physicians across our Mercy hospitals.”
Statewide, Mercy’s A grades represent a huge portion of the total A grades received by all hospitals. Missouri has a total of 19 A grades, with five going to Mercy hospitals. In Arkansas, Mercy’s two A grades were among only seven earned throughout the state.
“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 this hospital received an ‘A’ despite those challenges. I congratulate all the leaders, staff, volunteers and clinicians who together made that possible.”
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.
Mercy, one of the 25 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized quality care and one of the nation’s largest Accountable Care Organizations. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 40 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 4,000 Mercy Clinic physicians and advanced practitioners, and more than 40,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
