CarolinaEast earns ‘A' in Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade
NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) — A local medical center was recently awarded an 'A' in the Leapfrog Group's Spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grade.
CarolinaEast Medical Center, located in New Bern, was given top marks for their excellent standards in patient care. Grading is similar to that in schools, A through F reflects the best grade to the worst. Grading is based on more than 30 parameters including performance in errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Leapfrog grading is the only hospital rating system that focuses on preventable medical errors and is free for the public to view.
'I am so proud of the care and compassion offered by our 3,600 employees and 400+ volunteers who show up daily to ensure our patients' safety,' said Michael Smith, President and CEO, CarolinaEast Health System. 'Our most recent grade 'A' from one of the country's most recognized ratings companies is another way we show our commitment to caring for our more than 400,000 patients last year.'
North Carolina is ranked #12 in overall state gradings with Leapfrog.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Medscape
28-05-2025
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Five Florida Hospitals Sue Safety Ratings System
Five Tenet Healthcare hospitals are suing a leading provider of hospital safety ratings in federal court, alleging that it 'pressures hospitals to participate and pay or else suffer devastating and misleading public 'safety' grades.' The South Florida hospitals all got 'D' or 'F' grades in the fall 2024 ratings from Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Grade website after they declined to answer the company's surveys. The hospitals also received poor overall and patient-satisfaction ratings from Medicare. Leah Binder, Leapfrog's president and CEO, told Medscape Medical News that the nonprofit organization stands by its ratings. 'The Tenet Healthcare system has disgraceful performance on patient safety,' she said, 'and that is what they should be spending their money to address.' 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Palm Beach Gardens has 1- and 2-star ratings on the measures, respectively, while West Boca and Delray have 2- and 1-star ratings, respectively. Their scores are 'among the worst in the country,' Binder said. 'They are performing extremely poorly in the eyes of their own patients.' The hospitals declined to speak on the record about the lawsuit or answer questions regarding their poor ratings under Medicare's grading system. In a statement to Medscape Medical News , they said, 'our hospitals are continuously working to improve the patient experience and have been recognized repeatedly for our leadership in quality, innovation, and compassionate care.' Legal Expert: Facts, Not Grades, Are Key How vulnerable is Leapfrog in court? Eric Goldman, JD, MBA, a professor at California's Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California, who has studied online rating systems, said this case is different than a filmmaker suing a movie critic over a bad review. 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But if they're reporting that the hospitals are not performing on certain criteria, that's the potential fact claim that could be the basis of a lawsuit.' According to Goldman, Leapfrog's strongest defense may be the market itself. 'Leapfrog is absolutely free to assign a grade however it wants. That is its prerogative, and that's constitutionally protected as an opinion,' he said. 'Ultimately, the market decides how credible they find Leapfrog's methodology. If people find it credible, they continue to use it. If they don't, they're not required to.'
