Mon Medical Center earns A in Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
The Leapfrog Group is a safety-based nonprofit formed by major employers and health care groups and issues its safety grades twice a year, in spring and fall. Mon Medical Center was the only West Virginia hospital to receive an A in the spring grading.
The Leapfrog Group assigns a letter grade to nearly 3, 000 general hospitals on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents and infections.
David Goldberg, president and CEO of Mon Health System and Davis Health System — Vandalia Health Northern Region, and executive vice president of Vandalia Health, said, "Our mission every day is personalized care. It's every patient, every time, one patient at a time. And that's what this is about. While it ebbs and flows — the letter score — what doesn't ebb and flow is our dedication to being 100 % focused on the need of a patient each and every time."
Mon Medical Center scored an A grade in fall 2019, B in spring 2020, C in fall 2020, A in spring 2021, Bs in fall 2021 and both times in 2022, fell to a C in spring 2023, and B in fall 2023.
This spring, the hospital scored above average for infections, problems with surgery, error prevention and staff training and practices. It achieved the best overall score for infections and staffing.
For safety problems, it scored a hair below the national average score of 1.00, with a 1.07. The best score was 0.53 and the worst was 3.10. It scored above average in three of seven categories in this area.
Goldberg said Leapfrog data runs 12-18 months behind. "We've been on a journey to improve, and we've seen significant reductions in infection rates, falls, hospital-acquired conditions. We've also bolstered so much in our intensive care unit, with dedicated intensivists."
Patient experience scores continue to be in the top 10 % to 25 %, he said, and patient safety scores continue to rank high.
"We're thrilled to be an A, " he said. "But what that really goes to show and what it continues to show is that Mon Health Medical Center continues to lead with quality, safety and service."
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