Newark Hospitals Get New Leapfrog Safety Grades

NEWARK, NJ — How did University Hospital, Saint Michael's Medical Center and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center score in their latest safety rating from the Leapfrog Group?

The recent round of grading for the three Newark hospitals was announced Thursday. The nonprofit Leapfrog Group graded more than 2,600 hospitals across the nation for its fall 2019 effort.

The Leapfrog Group explains that its rating system is focused entirely on errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The hospital safety grades are released by the nonprofit group twice a year. See the full list and learn more about the methodology.

For the fall 2019 rating, University Hospital scored a "D" grade. Other recent grades for University Hospital include:

• Spring 2019 – D
• Fall 2018 – D
• Spring 2018 – F
• Fall 2017 – D
• Spring 2017 – D
• Fall 2016 – D
• Spring 2016 – C

For the fall 2019 rating, Saint Michael's Medical Center scored an "A" grade. Other recent grades for Saint Michael's Medical Center include:

• Spring 2019 – A
• Fall 2018 – A
• Spring 2018 – C
• Fall 2017 – C
• Spring 2017 – D
• Fall 2016 – D
• Spring 2016 – F

For the fall 2019 rating, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center scored an "A" grade. Other recent grades for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center include:

• Spring 2019 – A
• Fall 2018 – A
• Spring 2018 – B
• Fall 2017 – C
• Spring 2017 – C
• Fall 2016 – C
• Spring 2016 – C

Leapfrog assigns A,B,C,D and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the United States. Leapfrog explains that the safety grade includes performance measures taken from federal government data and the group’s own hospital survey to “produce a single letter grade representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.”

The group relies on a panel of experts to select the measures used in the methodology and to develop a scoring system. (You can read more about the letter grades here.)

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