Rhode Island improves score on hospital report card ranking

(The Center Square) – Three of nine Rhode Island hospitals evaluated in the fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report received “A” grades and no hospitals received a “D” or “F.”

The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog that releases its safety report in the spring and fall of each year. Patient safety authorities are empaneled to compile the results with guidance from the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.

Among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., the state is tied with Missouri for 18th place. Rhode Island was ranked 20th in Leapfrog’s spring report.

Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, Wakefield’s South County Hospital and The Miriam Hospital in Providence received “A” grades. Landmark and Wakefield also received “A” marks in the spring while the Miriam Hospital improved from a “B.”

Kent Memorial Hospital maintained its “B” rating from the spring while North Providence’s Our Lady of Fatima Hospital improved from a “C” in the spring to a “B.”

Westerly Hospital, Roger Williams Medical Center and Rhode Island Hospital retained their “C” grades. Newport Hospital dropped from an “A” grade to a “C.”

The hospitals are graded on 30 safety measures, according to Leapfrog. Three new categories were added to the fall report – postoperative blood infections, kidney injuries and sepsis. The latter is responsible for 160,000 postoperative deaths annually and 270,000 deaths in hospitals in all settings, according to a news release from Leapfrog.

Less than 1% of hospitals received an “F” grade with 32% receiving “A” marks.

Leapfrog compiles all of the safety information on a website that allows the public to look at state data and information from individual hospitals.

“As the pandemic continues, we all have heightened awareness of the importance of hospitals in our communities and in our lives,” said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It is critical that all hospitals put patient safety first. Now we have more information on more hospitals than ever before, so people can protect themselves and their families.”

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