Safety Rankings Up At Southern Ocean Medical Center, According To New Report

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — More than half of New Jersey hospitals received top grades in protecting patient safety, according to the spring 2023 hospital safety grades released Wednesday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog.

Among those hospitals was Hackensack Meridian Southern Ocean Medical Center (SOMC), which was given a "B" rating by Leapfrog.

This is a jump up for the hospital - back in the fall ratings it was given a "C" which was the sixth consecutive time it received that grade. Its last "B" rating previously was fall 2019.

SOMC was better than average in many circumstances, according to Leapfrog. But it fell short when it came to communication and some safety problems, the watchdog reported.

For example, the survey found that the hospital performed worse than others when it came to harmful events and patient falls and injuries.

But SOMC had a perfect score when it came to problems with surgery, according to Leapfrog.

You can view the full results here.

Read More: New NJ Hospital Safety Ratings Released: See Best, Worst

This article contains additional reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.