Which Triangle hospitals are the safest? Watchdog group releases latest report cards
Five Triangle hospitals rank among the safest in the nation, while another scored just average in a new watchdog report.
The health care providers were graded for measures they take to avoid errors and injury on the latest Hospital Safety Grade list.
The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog, released the scores Thursday after it said it evaluated more than 2,700 “general acute-care hospitals” across the United States. Eighty-three of them were in North Carolina.
Here are the Triangle hospitals that received an A grade:
- Duke Raleigh Hospital
- Duke Regional Hospital in Durham
- Duke University Hospital in Durham
- UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh
- University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill
Those are the same hospitals that received top safety scores in December, McClatchy News reported. This time around, UNC Rex was the only North Carolina hospital to get straight As since rankings started in 2012.
“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a UNC Health news release. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but UNC Health shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety.”
Duke Health in a statement also said it’s dedicated to patient safety.
“Patient safety is our top priority, and the ‘A’ grades from Leapfrog are an endorsement of our daily focus on respect for people and continuous improvement to ensure that patients receive the highest level of care at all three of our hospitals,” said chief quality officer Dr. Richard Shannon.
Also earning a repeat spot on the list was WakeMed Raleigh Campus, which earned a B grade now and in December. In Johnston County, UNC’s Johnston Health and Johnston Health Clayton again got B scores, data show.
On the latest list, WakeMed Cary Hospital earned a C grade. While it received nods for preventing falls and serious blood clots, communication with hospital staff was among the below-average measures, according to The Leapfrog Group.
“WakeMed provides a safe and healing environment, and our team is committed to the well-being (of) our patients and the quality of care they receive,” the hospital system said in a statement. “As in past years, WakeMed excelled in several measures that point to our strong culture of safety and procedures that engage staff and leaders. We also have opportunities to improve, and recent initiatives are having a positive impact — which we anticipate to see reflected in future Leapfrog scores.”
Medical providers that receive A grades also ranked below average in some categories due in part to hospital infections and deadly complications after surgery at their facilities, findings show.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Which Triangle hospitals are the safest? Watchdog group releases latest report cards."
