Walker Baptist Medical Center Nationally Recognized with Sixth Consecutive “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
Apr 29, 2021JASPER, ALA. – Walker Baptist Medical Center today announced the hospital received an “A” for the Spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction and its sixth consecutive “A,” recognizing Walker’s achievements protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care.
“I am incredibly proud of our team for this achievement,” said Walker Baptist Medical Center CEO, Mike Neuendorf. “Our ‘A’ grade for patient safety, in particular amid a global pandemic, reflects the resilience of our staff and their unwavering commitment to excellence in patient care delivery. Having earned our sixth consecutive ‘A’ grade demonstrates the consistency of our patient safety protocols and, to me, underscores that our hospital will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever.”
“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but Walker Baptist Medical Center shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.