Glendale Adventist continues to earn high marks in patient-safety report
Adventist Health Glendale recently received its eighth consecutive A grade from a national hospital-safety organization, while Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital received C grades.
The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, gives hospital safety grades twice a year based on categories that measure the quality of patient safety.
The streak of high marks “is a testament that our world-class physicians, nurses and associates are committed to creating a safe environment while reducing hospital-acquired complications,” Alice Issai, president of Adventist Health Glendale, said in a statement.
Of the approximately 2,600 hospitals graded this past fall, 32% earned an A, 24% received a B, 37% were given a C, 6% received a D and just under 1% got an F, according to Leapfrog’s statistics.
Leapfrog’s grades are based on 28 measures sourced from organizations such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measures include rates of errors, injuries, infections and nurse and doctor communication, which, taken together, are supposed to represent a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm.
Officials with USC Verdugo Hills and Glendale Memorial both reported their facilities have made improvements that haven’t been reflected in the most recent Leapfrog grades, but they said they are confident future scores will.
“We are continuously improving our system and employing the principles of high-reliability organizations,” said Jill Welton, president of Glendale Memorial, in a statement. “Highly reliable healthcare is care that is consistent and predictable. We have formalized teams to increase focus on our quality outcomes and patient experience.”
USC Verdugo Hills and Glendale Memorial have not received higher than a C since 2015, according to Leapfrog records.
“Measures like implementing hospitalist and intensivist programs have significantly improved our care delivery and have only added to our unwavering dedication to delivering beyond exceptional care for our patients,” according to a statement provided by Verdugo Hills spokeswoman Gabriella Robison.
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