Illinois hospitals rise to 11th spot in national rankings; Loretto Hospital jumped to an A from a D
CHICAGO – Nov. 7, 2019 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, and driven in Illinois by the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH), announced today the fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The independent grading system assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the US based on their ability to protect patients from avoidable errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
Statewide, 108 hospitals were graded, and 46 earned an A, 19 earned a B, 39 earned a C, four earned a D and no hospitals earned an F. Most notable improvement was for Chicago’s Loretto Hospital which earned an A, up from a D from spring 2019.
MBGH, a non-profit organization representing employer purchasers of health care, and the Leapfrog Group’s Illinois Regional Leader, annually encourages Illinois hospitals to participate in Leapfrog’s online patient safety survey.
Hospitals earning an A grade:
- AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook
- AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center GlenOaks
- AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale
- AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La Grange
- AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center Chicago
- AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago
- AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet
- AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chica
- AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates
- AMITA Health St. Mary's Hospital Kankakee
- CGH Medical Center
- Edward Hospital
- Elmhurst Memorial Hospital
- HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital
- HSHS St. John's Hospital
- HSHS St. Mary's Hospital
- Illinois Valley Community Hospital
- Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers
- Loretto Hospital
- Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital
- Loyola University Medical Center
- Morris Hospital
- NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston Hospital
- NorthShore University HealthSystem, Glenbrook Hospital
- NorthShore University HealthSystem, Skokie Hospital
- NorthShore University HealthSystem, Highland Park Hospital
- Northwest Community Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital
- Northwestern Medicine, Lake Forest Hospital
- OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center
- OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center
- OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center
- OSF St. Joseph Medical Center
- OSF St. Mary Medical Center
- Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center dba OSF Sain
- Riverside Medical Center
- Rush Copley Medical Center
- Rush Oak Park Hospital
- Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center
- Silver Cross Hospital
- University of Chicago Medical Center
- West Suburban Medical Center
“The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade offers critical patient safety information to consumers, in an easily digestible way, so they can make informed decisions about where they seek care in Illinois,” said Cheryl Larson, MBGH president and CEO. “We are committed to encouraging hospitals and working with employers to ensure patients in our community receive safe, high-quality care.”
The release of this fall’s Hospital Safety Grades coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) groundbreaking report, To Err Is Human, which revealed nearly 100,000 lives are lost every year due to preventable medical errors. Subsequent reports estimate that number may be twice as high.
“Twenty years after To Err Is Human, we are still devastated by tens of thousands of needless deaths every year from medical errors,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We are seeing progress, with 45,000 fewer deaths from the hazards included in the Safety Grade. Still, much more needs to be done. Transparency is the first step.”
Binder cited an analysis earlier this year by the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality that found 45,000 fewer deaths than a 2016 analysis, based on the prevalence of safety problems in hospitals graded by The Leapfrog Group.
Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, as well as individual grades and state rankings, please visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
About the Midwest Business Group on Health
MBGH is one of the nation’s leading non-profit employer coalitions of 125 mid, large and jumbo self-funded public and private employers, representing over 4 million lives and annually spending over $4.5 billion on health care. Members consist of leading health benefit professionals, with activities focused on education, research, benchmarking and community-based initiatives that increase the value of health benefits and health care services. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. mbgh.org
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