Source: New Jersey Patch
Hospitals in New Jersey and nationwide made significant improvements in preventing a “disturbing” increase in hospital infections during the coronavirus pandemic, The Leapfrog Group said with the release Monday of its Fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grades Report.
The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog group, used an academic grading scale with five letter grades to score nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents and infections. Overall, the report shows hospitals significantly reduced infections after the pandemic spike, but patient-reported experiences declined for the second year in a row.
Among 67 New Jersey hospitals evaluated in the report, 24 received the gold-standard “A” safety grade. Another 27 earned a “B,” 16 earned a “C” and zero hospitals earned a “D” or an “F.” New Jersey hospitals earning “A” grades are:
Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center
Hunterdon Medical Center
St. Mary’s General Hospital
Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center
The Valley Hospital
Morristown Medical Center
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway
Inspira Medical Center Vineland
Virtua Voorhees Hospital
Community Medical Center
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital (improved from a “B” in spring)
Saint Clare’s Hospital of Denville (improved from a “B” in spring)
Overlook Medical Center
Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center
Jefferson Washington Township Hospital
St. Luke’s Warren Campus
Inspira Medical Center Elmer
Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Atlanticare Regional Medical Center-Mainland Campus
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus
Jefferson Stratford Hospital
Virtua Marlton Hospital
Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill
The Leapfrog Group grades hospitals twice a year. In the fall report, the first report using post-pandemic data, 30 percent of New Jersey hospitals nationwide earned an “A,” 24 percent earned a “B,” 39 percent earned a “C,” 7 percent earned a “D,” and fewer than 1 percent earned an “F.”
New Jersey ranked 13th overall among states with the most “A” hosptitals. States that had no “A” hospitals in Vermont, Wyoming, Delaware and North Dakota, as well as Washington, D.C.
More than 85 percent of hospitals saw decreases in the three most dangerous infections — MRSA, central-line bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections. 19 percent improved in all three infection measures; 66 percent improved in at least one infection measure; 16 percent continued to worsen or did not improve.
However, Binder said the continued decline in patient experiences is “deeply concerning.” Hospitals in all states have seen a significant decline in reported patient experiences since the fall of 2021, the report said.
Leapfrog says its hospital rating system is the only one in the country focusing solely on a hospital’s ability to protect patients from preventable errors.