The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich and Bristol Hospital were the only two hospitals in Connecticut to earn A grades in the latest scorecard released by the independent, not-for-profit Leapfrog Group.
The biannual ‘Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades’ report graded approximately 2,500 acute care hospitals across the country. Its assessment, performed by patient safety experts, focuses entirely on errors, accidents, injuries and infections, which Leapfrog says are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
A hospital must have enough safety data available for Leapfrog experts to issue a letter grade. Hospitals missing a certain amount of data are not graded.
In Connecticut, 24 of 28 hospitals were graded, with seven receiving a B and 15 getting a C.
Hospitals earning a B included Johnson Memorial, Middlesex, St. Francis, John Dempsey, Milford, Griffin and Stamford.
Hospitals earning a C included Lawrence & Memorial, Hartford, Midstate, Hospital of Central Connecticut, Yale New Haven, Yale New Haven St. Raphael, St. Mary’s, Waterbury, Bridgeport, St. Vincent’s, Charlotte Hungerford, Norwalk, Danbury, New Milford and Greenwich.
Across the country, 30 percent of hospitals received an A from Leapfrog, while 28 percent received a B, 35 percent received a C, 6 percent received a D, and 1 percent received an F.
