Nine hospitals in West Michigan — four of them owned by Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health — earned a top grade this spring in a semi-annual scorecard on quality.
Twenty-six of the 80 Michigan hospitals included in the spring scorecard earned an “A” and 13 received a “B” for safety. Thirty-seven hospitals earned a “C,” three got a “D” and one received an “F.”
The Leapfrog Group estimates that if all hospitals performed at the level of those that received an A, it would result in the saving of 33,000 lives.
Patients treated at an “A” hospital have a 9-percent lower risk of dying than at a “B” hospital, 35 percent lower risk than a “C,” and 50 percent lower risk than hospitals with a lower grade.
Receiving an “A” grade in The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2016 report were:
• Community Health Center of Branch County in Coldwater
• Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids
• North Ottawa Community Hospital in Grand Haven
• Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall
• Spectrum Health Big Rapids
• Spectrum Health Blodgett in Grand Rapids
• Spectrum Health Butterworth in Grand Rapids
• Spectrum Health Ludington
• Sturgis Hospital in Sturgis.
Mercy Health Saint Mary’s is one of just five hospitals in the state to receive an A in each report since the Hospital Safety Score began in 2013. The others are Allegiance Health in Jackson, Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain, Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township, and University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in Ann Arbor.
“There is a large cost difference between a C-F hospital and an A hospital. That cost is not only in dollars, but we now know the cost is also in lives,” said Bret Jackson, president of the labor-business-coalition Economic Alliance for Michigan that works with the Leapfrog Group. “Excellent patient safety is what every hospital should strive for.”
The Leapfrog Group twice a year assigns grades to more than 2,500 hospitals in the U.S. Scores are available at hospitalsafetyscore.org.
