An announcement released nationally by The Leapfrog Group, an independent
hospital safety group, shows key shifts among many hospitals on the A,
B, C, D and F grades rating them on errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.
Winchester Medical Center earned an A in this elite national ratings program,
recognizing its strong commitment to patient safety. The Hospital Safety
Score is a gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the
guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered
by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit organization.
The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal
of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and
designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves
and their families when expecting a hospital stay.
“Patient safety is an essential and vital component of quality healthcare
and is a top priority across Valley Health and at all of our facilities,”
says Mark H. Merrill, President and CEO of Valley Health. “We have
developed and implemented a quality and safety infrastructure that strives
to reach every department.”
Developed 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 U.S. general acute care hospitals were assigned
scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade.
The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis
of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website.
Patients can also review their preferred hospitals past safety performance
alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing
them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in
patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.
“Winchester Medical Center’s A grade is powerful proof of
our commitment to putting patient safety above all else,” said Nicolas
Restrepo, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Winchester Medical Center.
Winchester Medical Center has multiple complimentary safety initiatives,
including Daily Safety Rounds and a Daily Safety Call. “These initiatives
have heightened awareness and allowed the organization’s leadership
and staff to learn from those closest to the delivery of care about the
challenges they face,” Restrepo says.
To see Winchester Medical Center’s scores as they compare nationally
and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.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. Hospital
Safety Score, 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 Valley Health and Winchester Medical Center
Valley Health, based in Winchester, Virginia, is a not-for-profit health
system serving a population of more than 450,000 in northwest Virginia,
West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, and western Maryland. Valley
Health includes six hospitals: Winchester Medical Center, a 445-bed tertiary
referral center; Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal, Va.; Shenandoah
Memorial Hospital in Woodstock, Va.; Page Memorial Hospital in Luray,
Va.; Hampshire Memorial Hospital in Romney, W.Va.; and War Memorial Hospital
in Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Additional services include physician practices,
regional medical transport, Urgent Care centers, retail pharmacy, and
home oxygen, medical equipment and supply stores. Visit www.valleyhealthlink.com.