Aurora Hospitals Get A, B Grade in Safety Rankings

AURORA, IL — The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit founded by employers and health-care providers, announced its Fall 2016 hospital safety rankings Monday, a measure of how safe a hospital is for patients.

Rush-Copley Medical Center, located at 2000 Ogden Avenue, was given an A grade. It’s received straight A’s since 2013.

Leapfrog looked at surgery problems, error prevention efforts, safety problems, hospital staff and infections to determine the grades. The goal was to determine a patient's risk of further injury or infection if they visited a certain hospital.

The hospital ranked entirely above average in its efforts to prevent errors and safety problems. For infections, Rush-Copley performed above average in every category except for blood infections during ICU stays, for which it performed below average. Click here to see the full report.

“We are pleased to be recognized once again by Leapfrog for our strong culture of safety,” said Barry C. Finn, president and CEO of Rush-Copley. “Our physicians and staff work every day to improve the quality of service and care they provide – care that’s delivered with the highest standards of safety and compassion.”

Presence Mercy Medical Center, located at 1325 N. Highland Ave., received a B score, staying the same since its April 2016 grade.

Presence scored almost entirely above average in its efforts to prevent infections, but received mixed results in its error prevention practices and surgery problems. Check out the full report here.

A message sent to Presence seeking comment on the grade was not immediately returned.

Leapfrog says preventable errors and infections are the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.

“In the fast-changing healthcare landscape, patients should be aware that hospitals are not all equally competent at protecting them from injuries and infections,” Leapfrog President Leah Binder said in a press release. “We believe everyone has the right to know which hospitals are the safest and encourage community members to call on their local hospitals to change, and on their elected officials to spur them to action. States that put a priority on safety have shown remarkable improvements.”