Baptist Health System Hospitals Earn 5 Safety/Quality A Grades

San Antonio, TX – Five Baptist Health System Hospitals (BHS) have earned top grades from the Leapfrog Group, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to hospital performance improvements in the areas of quality and safety. Mission Trail, North Central, Northeast, St, Luke’s and Resolute Health hospitals all earned an ‘A’ rating, and Baptist Medical Center earned a ‘B.’ This is the fourth consecutive ‘A’ rating for Resolute. 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.

“The desire of our employees to always do what’s best for our patients is central to earning these scores,” said Baptist Health System Chief Executive Officer, Matt Stone. “A and ‘B’ rankings are not easily earned. It takes true collaboration from every team member. This recognition is a testament to the commitment by our employees to provide our patients with the safe, quality care they deserve.”

“This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections, and injuries,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “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. A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University finds that a hospital's safety score has life-or-death consequences for patients. Patients at a ‘D’ hospital have a 50 percent higher risk of avoidable death than patients at an ‘A’ hospital. The study concluded that more than 33,000 lives could be saved each year if all hospitals had the same performance as those, like BHS, who received an A.

To see Baptist Health System’s full scores and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Hospital Safety Score mobile app for Apple and Android devices.