UM St. Joseph Medical Center Earns an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group for Spring 2024
University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center (UM St. Joseph), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), has once again been awarded an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit watchdog organization. Leapfrog assigns an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 measures of errors, accidents, injuries and infections as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. UM St. Joseph has received a total of 10 ‘A’ ratings for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, with this latest achievement marking the hospital’s sixth consecutive award.
“Zero harm is the goal of every team member,” said Thomas B. Smyth, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of UM St. Joseph Medical Center. “UM St. Joseph, in lockstep with our UMMS colleagues, is committed to creating a Culture of Safety that supports consistently good outcomes and exceptional patient experiences. Our latest Leapfrog recognition affirms that our patients, their families and our community can confidently turn to us for reliably safe, effective and compassionate care. We are proud of this enduring and worthwhile work.”
“Everyone who works at UM St. Joseph should be proud of this ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes complete dedication at every level, and an ironclad commitment to putting patients first. I thank University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, its leadership, clinicians, staff, and volunteers for caring so deeply for its patients and their safety.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.
To see UM St. Joseph’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
About University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center
Founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, UM St. Joseph Medical Center is a 221-bed Catholic, not-for-profit regional medical center in Towson, Maryland, that offers a wide range of superb clinical programs and centers of excellence, including the Cancer, Heart and Orthopaedic Institutes, Women and Children’s services and Emergency Medicine. The medical center’s committed focus on zero patient harm, clinical excellence and perfect patient experiences spurred the creation of the hospital’s unique approach to care, The UM St. Joseph Value Delivery System, and has consistently earned UM St. Joseph regional and national recognition for patient care and safety, including its ranking as the #1 community hospital in Maryland by U.S. News & World Report. UM St. Joseph is a proud member of the 11-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, dedicated to providing loving service and compassionate, leading-edge care to all.
About the University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore, who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit umms.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 for patient safety. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC 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.