Northeast Georgia hospitals got mixed reviews in the latest patient safety report card issued by The Leapfrog Group.
The nonprofit watchdog organization rates hospitals based on 28-evidence based measures of patient safety so that consumers can compare them. The ratings are released twice yearly, in the spring and the fall.
Habersham Medical Center dropped from a “C” to a “D” on the latest report card. It was one of only four hospitals in Georgia included in the spring 2020 survey to receive that low of a grade. Stephens County Hospital did not participate in the survey. Critical access hospitals such as Mountain Lakes in Rabun County are not rated.
Here’s how hospitals in Northeast Georgia included in the survey fared:
Habersham Medical Center – Demorest – Grade: D
Northeast Georgia Medical Center – Gainesville – Grade: C
Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital – Athens – Grade: B
St. Mary’s Healthcare System – Athens – Grade: B
St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital – Lavonia – Grade: B
Union General Hospital – Blairsville – Grade: C
The data used in the ratings come primarily from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and also reflect information from the Leapfrog Hospital Survey for hospitals that participate.
Leapfrog based it’s spring 2020 ratings on data that came from 2019 and earlier before the COVID-19 virus hit the United States. “Poor performance on safety is not correlated to the pandemic,’’ Leapfrog Group executive Erica Mobley said Monday.
Leapfrog says it has the nation’s only rating system focused entirely on patient safety, recording statistics on preventable errors, accidents, injuries, and infections that occur in hospitals. It issues rankings semi-annually, in fall and spring. It’s a widely watched rating system and is promoted by hospitals that do well in the grades.
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