University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center Receives National 2025 Patient Safety Excellence Award

For the second year in a row, University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center (UM St. Joseph), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), has been recognized as a 2025 Patient Safety Excellence Award winner by Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use when searching for a doctor or hospital. This achievement reflects UM St. Joseph’s resolute commitment to safe, patient-centered care and puts the organization among the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.

In addition to this recognition for patient safety, UM St. Joseph was recently named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for  Orthopedic Surgery, Spine Surgery and Joint Replacement and one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Joint Replacement. These achievements further underscore the organization’s commitment to delivering compassionate,  clinically excellent care at every step of the patient journey.

“Our patients’ safety is our sacred responsibility,” said Thomas B. Smyth, MD, President and CEO of UM St. Joseph Medical Center. “We owe it to our community to remain vigilantly focused on consistently providing safe and effective care  and we are grateful and proud to receive national recognition for these ongoing efforts.”

UM St. Joseph’s achievements are based solely on what matters most - patient outcomes. To determine the top-performing hospitals for patient safety, Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted complication and mortality rates for approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Healthgrades’ analysis revealed significant performance gaps between the nation’s highest- and lowest-achieving facilities, making it increasingly important for consumers to seek care at a hospital with top safety ratings. From 2021-2023, 173,280 preventable safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals, with four patient safety indicators accounting for nearly 76% of these incidents. The annual study found that patients treated in hospitals that received the 2025 Patient Safety Excellence Award have a significantly lower chance of experiencing one of the four leading safety indicators than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

• In-hospital falls resulting in fracture (54% less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 55% less likely
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 69% less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (72% less likely)

“As a 2025 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient, UM St. Joseph consistently puts the well-being of their patients and staff at the forefront, setting a high standard for patient safety nationwide,” said Debra Gradick, MD FACEP, senior physician consultant at Healthgrades. “We commend UM St. Joseph for providing consistently exceptional care while preventing serious injuries, giving patients their best chance of a seamless recovery.”

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2024.0.1) to MedPAR data from approximately 4,500 hospitals for years 2021 through 2023 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. Click here to view the complete 2025 Patient Safety Excellence Awards Methodology. 

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 Orthopedic 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 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 www.umms.org.

About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content. Our health system, large group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years. Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio, including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy, and Platejoy, which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. Each month, RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives.