Saint Clare's Health System Receives A-Grade Hospital Safety Score

DENVILLE, NJ, October 24, 2013 – Saint Clare’s Hospitals in Denville and Dover were honored with an “A” grade in the Fall 2013 update to the Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries and infections. The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by The Leapfrog Group (Leapfrog), an independent industry watchdog. The first and only hospital safety rating to be analyzed in the peer-reviewed Journal of Patient Safety, the Score is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families. Saint Clare’s Hospitals in Denville and Dover were the only hospitals in Morris County to be recognized with an A grade.

“Saint Clare’s is very proud to be recognized again by The Leapfrog Group for the excellent quality of care that we provide to our patients,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, president and chief executive officer at Saint Clare’s Health System. “Our hospitals in Denville and Dover have been the only hospitals in Morris County to receive the “A” grade since Leapfrog began sharing this grading system. It is a testament to the outstanding care we provide to our community that we are now recognized alongside some of the best-known and respected medical facilities in the nation.”

“As patients begin to take a more active role in selecting where to receive health care, it has never been more important to focus on hospital safety and transparency. The ‘A’ hospitals, including Saint Clare’s Hospitals in Denville and Dover, are helping us to raise the standards of health care nationwide,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. “We offer our congratulations and hope the hospital will continue to strive for an ever-increasing level of excellence in patient safety.”

To see Saint Clare’s scores as they compare nationally and locally, and to find safety tips for patients and their loved ones, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org. Local hospitals’ scores are also available on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

Calculated under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 general U.S. hospitals were assigned scores this Fall. A full analysis of the data and methodology used is available on the Hospital Safety Score website.

About The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.