Watchdog report: What grade did your hospital get?

Sixteen Washington hospitals are getting the top grade issued by a new report from a national watchdog group. Eleven of the 16 are in King and Pierce counties, reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The hospital safety assessment provided by the Leapfrog Group showed a third of Washington hospitals got A grades. This patient safety score ranked Washington 17th in the country. That’s an improvement from its 25th-place ranking in the spring and last fall.

The grades are based on 30 performance metrics, including post-surgery infection rates, leadership roles, and hand-washing.

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Seven hospitals in the state earned B grades for safety while 25 got Cs. No hospital in Washington got an F grade.

Only 14.3% of hospitals in the state got passing grades in outpatient procedures.

Leapfrog’s safety report examined about 3,000 hospitals. Utah was first with 60.7% of hospitals receiving A grades, followed by Virginia (57.7%), Connecticut (50%), North Carolina (46.7%), and New Jersey (46.3%).

Dr. Sharon Eloranta, medical director at the Washington Health Alliance, said in a news release preventable medical errors happen far too often across the country. She said the latest Leapfrog safety grades show promising improvements in patient safety.

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In the Puget Sound region, grades were different across the board. In King County, EvergreenHealth, MultiCare Covington Medical Center, St. Anne Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, Swedish Health Services Issaquah, Swedish Medical Center Ballard, Swedish Medical Center First Hill, and Virginia Mason Medical Center got A grades. MultiCare Auburn Medical Center and Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill received B grades. Harborview Medical Center, Overlake Hospital Medical Center, UW Medical Center – Montlake Campus, UW Medical Center – Northwest Campus, and Valley Medical Center earned C grades.

In Kitsap County, St. Michael Medical Center received an A grade. In Pierce County, St. Anthony Hospital, St. Clare Hospital, and St. Joseph Medical Center of Tacoma received A grades, while Madigan Army Medical Center, Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital, and Tacoma General Hospital earned B grades. MultiCare Allenmore Hospital received a C grade.

In Snohomish County, Swedish Edmonds Hospital earned a B grade, while EvergreenHealth Monroe and Providence Regional Medical Center Everett received C grades. Cascade Valley Hospital received a D grade.

Purse strings continue to be tight at virually every hospital. Operating cost hikes and worker shortages, combined with increasing demand, have resulted in billions of dollars in losses for the state’s hospitals.

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.