Local hospitals graded A to F in patient safety

by Tina Cole-Mullins

St. Joseph Mercy of Chelsea and the U of M’s Michigan Medicine recently received A ratings for patient safety performance in the Fall 2018 review of Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades,thereby achieving back-to-back A ratings in both the spring and fall of 2018. Two other area hospitals, Sparrow Hospital and Health System of Lansing and Henry Ford Allegiance of Jackson raised their grades this fall from a B to A.

Only one area hospital received a B rating, St. Joseph Mercy of Livingston Hospital (Howell). Hurley Medical Center of Flint raised its rating to D from its former F rating in the spring.

“This marks the thirtieth A rating for the hospital,” President and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy of Chelsea Nancy Graebner said. “We are thrilled to be among the top 32 percent of hospitals nationally that earned an A grade for patient safety. Our scorecard reflects our commitment to our patients and to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.”

The Leapfrog website outlines the safety standard rankings for over 2,600 general and acute-care hospitals nationally, including 76 Michigan hospitals. Its scorecard rankings of A through F measure overall patient safety performance focusing on such areas as medical errors, infections, falls, and other adverse events among patients. A national panel of experts developed the standards.

Other Michigan hospitals rating an A included:

Lake Huron Medical, Port Huron; McLaren, Port Huron; Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals, Clinton Township; Harper-Hutzel Hospital, Detroit; Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit; Beaumont Hospital, Troy; Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, Wyandotte; Beaumont Hospital, Taylor; St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, Pontiac;

Garden City Hospital, Garden City; Beaumont Hospital, Farmington Hills; Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital; Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, Commerce Township;  Covenant Medical Center Harrison Campus, Saginaw; McLaren Central Michigan, Mount Pleasant; Otsego Memorial, Gaylord; Bronson, Battle Creek; McLaren – Northern Michigan, Petoskey; Spectrum Health Pennock, Hastings; Spectrum Health United Hospital, Greenville; Munson Healthcare, Cadillac; Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Grand Rapids; Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital; Lakeland Community Hospital, Niles; Lakeland Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph; Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital, Ludington;

UP Health System, Marquette; and UP Health System, Portage.

Michigan hospitals that dropped from A ratings in spring 2018 to C in fall 2018 include:

 McLaren McComb, Mount Pleasant; Hillsdale Hospital, Hillsdale; War Memorial Hospital, Sault Sainte Marie; Metro Health-University of MI Health, Wyoming;

Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids; and Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital, Grand Rapids.