Five hospitals in West Michigan were among 32 statewide to earn an “A” in a fall report card on patient safety.
Spectrum Health hospitals in Zeeland, Greenville and Big Rapids, Metro Health Hospital and Bronson Battle Creek earned the top grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization for patient safety based in Washington, D.C.
Another 28 hospitals earned a “B” in the fall report card. All of the hospitals owned by Spectrum Health and Trinity Health, including Mercy Health Muskegon and Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids, earned an “A” or a “B” in the report card.
“Patient safety should be a priority for all residents of Michigan, especially during the pandemic. Costly medical errors are an unnecessary burden for patients and employers,” said Bret Jackson, president the Economic Alliance for Michigan, a business-labor coalition that works with The Leapfrog Group on the semi-annual report card. “The (Economic Alliance for Michigan) strives to work with hospitals, employers, policy makers and other stakeholders in our state to ensure high quality, safe care.”
Spectrum Health’s Zeeland Community Hospital received an “A” for the ninth straight time, an accomplishment that Chief Nursing Officer Linda Schaltz called “a tremendous honor and a tribute to our sustained culture of safety.”
Fourteen hospitals in the state, including Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, received a “C,” and one hospital, Hurley Medical Center in Flint, got a “D.” No hospital in the state received a failing grade in the fall report card.
The Leapfrog Group twice a year analyzes 27 publicly available safety and quality metrics and issues a letter grade for more than 2,600 hospitals across the U.S. Michigan ranked 14th nationally for overall patient safety in The Leapfrog Group’s fall report card.
“As we grapple with the current implications and lasting ramifications of COVID-19, hospital and patient safety have never been more important” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a statement.
