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Recognition Reflects a Commitment to Zero Harm and Patient Safety
Several University Hospitals medical center locations earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade by The Leapfrog Group, a prestigious national honor recognizing hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers that demonstrate the highest standards in patient safety and quality care.
UH locations awarded include:
- University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center
- University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center
- University Hospitals Parma Medical Center
- University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center
- University Hospitals St. John Medical Center
This distinction highlights the relentless focus on Zero Harm initiatives championed by University Hospitals to protect patients and deliver high-quality care. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that can lead to poor outcomes for patients.
“At University Hospitals we are on a mission to Zero Harm, a journey built on our commitment to quality, safety, and shared accountability,” said Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, FCCM, Chief Quality & Clinical Transformation Officer and Veale Distinguished Chair in Leadership and Clinical Transformation. “I’m really proud of how our caregivers rallied to decrease infections and make care safer for every patient who trusts UH with their wellbeing.”
The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns a letter grade to general hospitals across the country based on more than 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.
“We standardize our quality management and accountability systems across all hospital locations,” said Pronovost. “University Hospitals is the first U.S. health system certified at the system level in ISO 9001, the global gold standard for a quality management system in over 160 industries. We are confident our hospitals will continue to achieve top performance in the future.”
Leapfrog’s publicly available hospital grades are intended as a tool to empower patients. University Hospitals closely monitors quality measures like hospital-acquired infections and readmission rates. All caregivers, including nurses and physicians, are encouraged to actively advocate for their patients, which leads to a culture of shared responsibility and accountability.
The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring. To see full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of more than 20 hospitals (including five joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship quaternary care, academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Oxford University, Taiwan National University College of Medicine and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The main campus also includes the UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital, Ohio’s only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, with more than 3,000 active clinical trials and research studies underway. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to 19 Clinical Care Delivery and Research Institutes. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with more than 30,000 employees. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.
