Kaiser Permanente Southern California Hospitals Named to Patient Safety A-List

All 14 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California have received an “A” on the Hospital Safety Score from The Leapfrog Group, an independent industry watchdog. This marks the second year all Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals were awarded the highest grade.

“Patient safety is our focus and commitment at Kaiser Permanente. This latest recognition is the result of placing systems and technology in the hands of people who care,” said Edward M. Ellison, MD, executive medical director for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “The powerful combination of infection control surveillance technology and the personal attention our highly trained physicians and staff show to each of our members makes Kaiser Permanente hospitals some of the safest in the nation."

“This honor further demonstrates the superior medical care we provide to our 3.7 million members in Southern California and reassures our patients that they will receive quality care at hospitals that are consistently among the safest in the nation.” said Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, group president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. “This high mark for all Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals is recognition that our medical centers are meeting the highest standards for national hospital safety and quality measures.”

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single “A” thru “F” score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in spring 2014, with less than one-third receiving an “A” grade.

“Safety should come first for our families when we pick a hospital, because errors and infections are common and deadly,” said Leah Binder, president & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which produces the Hospital Safety Score. “No hospital is perfect, but we congratulate the Board, clinicians, administration, and staff of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California medical centers for achieving an “A” and showing us that you made the well-being of your patients your top priority.”  

The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, and its website offers a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades. It is the first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety.  The Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.