New Hospital Safety Ratings: Ocean University Medical Center

BRICK, NJ — Ocean University Medical Center received high marks for safety in The Leapfrog Group's annual fall safety grades.

The nonprofit health care watchdog group grades hospitals twice a year, assigning letter grades from "A" to "F" based on each hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections.

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Ocean University Medical Center, part of the Hackensack Meridian network, received an A for the fall, its seventh-straight A grade from the group.

It was rated above average in most categories, including preventing sepsis and blood infections after surgery. A handful of its ratings were below average, including preventing MRSA infections, which happened in 1.329 of every 1,000 patients (the average score was 0.84), surgical site infections after colon surgery (0.864 for Ocean Medical Center, compared with an average of 0.80), serious breathing problems (5.26 compared with an average of 5.18), kidney issues after surgery (1.47 patients per thousand compared with 1.42), falls causing broken hips (0.11 patients per thousand, compared with 0.07 average) and dangerous blood clots (3.78 patients per thousand, compared with an average of 3.18).

Among nearby hospitals, Jersey Shore University Medical in Neptune and Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch also received A grades. Community Medical Center in Toms River and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus received B grades, and CentraState Medical Center in Freehold received a C.

The fall 2021 Hospital Safety Grade graded 2,901 facilities across the country, the most the group has graded. In New Jersey, 30 hospitals received an "A" grade, 16 hospitals received a "B" grade, 22 hospitals received a "C" grade and two hospitals received a "D" grade. No New Jersey hospitals received an "F" grade. Read more: New NJ Hospital Safety Ratings: 30 Get 'A' Grade, 2 Get 'D'

The Safety Grades reflect performance on more than 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety, including for the first time, post-operative sepsis, blood leakage, and kidney injury.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is advised by an expert panel of leading patient safety authorities from across the country and receives guidance from the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring.

For more information about the Hospital Safety Grade, including details on individual hospital grades and state rankings, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.

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