Valley Hospital Receives ‘A’ for Patient Safety?

RANCHO MIRAGE – When it comes to patient safety, one Coachella Valley hospital consistently rises to the top when it comes to patient safety.

For the fourth consecutive year, Eisenhower Health received the highest mark possible.

The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C.-based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, on Wednesday released the new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Eisenhower Health was one of 750 awarded an ‘A’ for its efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States.

The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.

Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs received a ‘B,’ an improvement from its ‘C’ grade in fall of 2017.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio earned a ‘C’ in the spring rating, a significant drop from the ‘A’ rating it received in the fall of 2017.

“Delivering safe, high quality patient care is Eisenhower Health’s commitment to our community,” Christine Johnstone, vice president of Quality and Performance Improvement at Eisenhower Health. “We are proud to have received an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group for a fourth consecutive year. To be recognized by an organization with the toughest industry standards for quality and safety, transparency and continuous improvement in healthcare systems is an honor. It underscores the dedication and hard work our physicians, nurses, leadership and staff and demonstrate each and every day.”

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a prepared statement that, “This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections, and injuries,” says “Receiving an ‘A’ Safety Grade means a hospital is among the best in the country for preventing these terrible problems and putting their patients first, 24 hours a day.”

Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

To see full grade details of Eisenhower Health, Desert Regional Medical Center and John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, click here.