Catholic Health hospitals receive area's highest grades for patient safety

Catholic Health’s hospitals lead the region in The Leapfrog Group’s fall 2020 Hospital Safety Grade Report, including the only two “A” safety grades in Western New York. Kenmore Mercy and Mount St. Mary’s hospitals earned two of only 14 “A” grades that were given in all of New York. Sisters of Charity Hospital’s Main St. and St. Joseph Campuses, as well as Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, each received the region’s only “B” safety grades.

This cycle marks Kenmore Mercy’s 14th consecutive “A” safety grade. The hospital the only in New York to achieve an “A” grade for both the spring and fall cycles over the past seven years. Mount St. Mary’s Hospital achieved its fifth consecutive “A” safety grade. 

“During a time of much uncertainty and the need for additional safety precautions, this national recognition from The Leapfrog Group confirms Catholic Health’s position as the quality and patient safety leader in Western New York,” said Mark Sullivan, president and CEO of Catholic Health. “I thank each and every one of our caregivers for their unwavering commitment to superior patient care and for setting the highest standards of excellence in our community.”

Based in Washington, D.C., The Leapfrog Group is an independent industry watchdog founded more than a decade ago by the nation’s largest employers and purchasers of health care to improve quality and safety for consumers. Using 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data, the group strives to promote transparency in quality reporting by grading hospitals from “A” to “F” on how well they protect patients from medical errors, infections, and other preventable harm.

A press release said, “Catholic Health’s quality and patient safety department continually reviews protocols, incorporates new best practices, and implements changes when needed to ensure the safest possible environment for patients and residents in the system’s hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies.”

“For the past decade, Catholic Health has been the area leader in quality reporting transparency, because it’s the right thing to do and helps patients make more informed health care decisions,” Sullivan added. “We challenge ourselves every day to improve the care we provide and welcome the opportunity to compare ourselves against the top performing hospitals in the country to raise the quality bar even further for the people of Western New York.”

For more information on hospital safety, as well as individual hospital grades and rankings, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.