Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital Falls To 'B' Safety Grade, But Score Remains Above Average

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital gets a "B" grade for safety, according to the spring 2023 hospital safety grades released Wednesday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit health care watchdog. While the hospital's grade remains above the national average, the recent ratings marked the first time in the COVID-19 pandemic that the Cherry Hill institution failed to receive an A.

Leapfrog gave A's to three Camden County hospitals and a C grade to another institution.

The Leapfrog Group, which produces biannual hospital grades, uses an academic grading scale with five letter grades to score nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide on more than 30 measures of patient safety. Leapfrog says its hospital rating system is the only one in the country focusing solely on a hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors.

The following Camden County hospitals received an A for safety: Cooper University Hospital in Camden, Virtua Voorhees Hospital and Jefferson Stratford Hospital. Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden received a C.

Leapfrog says the Cherry Hill hospital performed "worse than average" when it came to preventing three types of infections linked to health care settings: urinary tract infections, Clostridioides difficile (C. Diff), and post-surgery sepsis infection.

The hospital scored above-average in preventing blood infections and received average marks for staving off Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). See Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital's detailed scorecard.

Despite the lower grade in Cherry Hill, Jefferson Health touted its performance in the recent Leapfrog ratings. Eight of the Philadelphia-headquartered health system's hospitals received A grades, while four others generated a B.

"We are proud of the accomplishments of all our hospitals," Jefferson Health CEO Dwight McBee said in a statement. "Jefferson Health is committed to offering the best care to our patients. Receiving this recognition is an honor, but it also shows the collective effort of our team of doctors, nurses, caregivers, and staff at our facilities to improve care for our patients."

At the national level, Leapfrog's ratings showed a "significant" increase in health care-associated infections and worsening patient experience amid COVID-19. The average risk of contracting such infections spiked to a five-year peak during the pandemic and remained high.

But more than half of New Jersey's hospitals received top grades from Leapfrog in protecting patient safety. See how the Garden State's hospitals scored.

"Not only are HAIs (health care-associated infections) among the leading causes of death in the U.S., they also increase length of hospitalization stays and add to costs," said Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder. "Our pre-pandemic data showed improved HAI measures, but the spring 2023 Safety Grade data spotlights how hospital responses to the pandemic led to a decline in patient safety and HAI management."

Read more about Leapfrog's grading methodology.