Four Southwest Florida hospitals earn top marks for patient safety: Is yours one of them?

Four Southwest Florida hospitals earned top marks this spring for hospital safety, according to the Leapfrog Group which measures hospital performance.

HealthPark Medical Center maintained its “A” grade for the sixth straight reporting period while Gulf Coast Medical Center moved from a “B” grade from fall 2021.

The two hospitals are operated by the publicly run Lee Health system in Lee County, along with Lee Memorial Hospital and Cape Coral Hospital, both of which retained “B” grades.

Leapfrog issues patient safety grades twice a year, in spring and fall, based on publicly available hospital safety data. The group said its latest evaluations involve 3,000 hospitals nationwide; children’s hospitals are not included.

By the way:NCH makes the grade for nationally recognized, quality healthcare

Related:SWFL hospitals prepare for 42 physician residents this summer

The grades reflect performance on more than 30 measures that includes post-operative sepsis, blood leakage and kidney injury.

Dr. Stephanie Stovall, chief clinical officer of quality and safety for Lee Health, said she is proud of incredible work done by employees.

Lee Health’s four acute care hospitals have a combined 1,865 beds with nearly 1,500 physicians and 15,000 employees.

There were roughly 89,000 admissions in 2021 with an average daily census of 1,482 patients. The projected operating budget for 2022 is $2.5 billion, according to financial statements.

“These grades speak to the safe, high-quality care patients can expect to receive in our hospitals,” Stovall said in a news release.

How did hospitals in Collier County stack up?

In Collier County, NCH Baker Hospital and North Naples Hospital maintained their “A” grades. The North Naples campus has had the top grade since fall 2020 and the Baker Hospital achieved it last fall. The two hospitals, with a combined 713 beds, are owned by the nonprofit NCH Healthcare System.

NCH said it has made changes to improve its quality measures which includes greater involvement of physicians in decision making.

“Patient safety and quality have always been a priority here at NCH,” said Dr. Carlos Quintero, chief quality officer at NCH. “Recognition such as this reaffirms the higher level of care and quality our patients can expect from NCH.”  

Physicians Regional Healthcare System, also in Collier, received a “B” at its Collier Boulevard campus, the same as in the fall. Its Pine Ridge hospital slipped to a “C” grade after earning a “B” last fall. The two campuses have a combined 209 beds.

Physicians Regional spokeswoman Brittney Thoman said hospital leaders are committed to providing quality care to every patient.

The system has initiatives underway that include bedside shift reporting and nurse leader rounding to foster improvements.

“Our patients' care and safety is at the forefront in all we do,” she said.

The national results and COVID-19’s impact

While other organizations offer hospital rankings — such as Healthgrades, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report — Leapfrog claims to be the only one “based exclusively on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients.”

Leapfrog said the latest grades provide a look at the impact of COVID-19 on patient safety, with several measures included in the grade showing a significant decline.

Studies have shown that the pandemic has reversed years of progress on patient safety efforts, according to Leapfrog.

The updated data included in the safety grade, some of which reflects a pandemic-era timeframe, heighten these findings and demonstrate how patient care worsened due to strains on the health care system and workforce.

“The health care workforce has faced unprecedented levels of pressure during the pandemic, and as a result, patients' experience with their care appears to have suffered,” Leah Binder, president and chief executive officer of Leapfrog, said in a news release.

“We commend the workforce for their heroic efforts these past few years and now strongly urge hospital leadership to recommit to improved care, from communication to responsiveness, and get back on track with patient safety outcomes,” Binder said.

For more information about the Hospital Safety Grade, including details on individual hospital grades and state rankings, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.