Health & Fitness

Secaucus Hospital Gets 'C' Grade In 2021 Leapfrog Ranking

Hudson Regional has improved: In 2017 and years prior — under previous owners — it was routinely given a 'D' grade from Leapfrog.

(Carly Baldwin/Patch)

SECAUCUS, NJ — Secaucus' town hospital, Hudson Regional, received a "C" letter grade in the Fall 2021 Leapfrog hospital ratings.

Leapfrog's fall ratings were just announced this week (Leapfrog also does spring rankings).

Leapfrog Group is an independent hospital watchdog organization. Receiving an "A" grade from Leapfrog is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive.

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However, many hospitals in the state of New Jersey and across the country received "C" letter grades from Leapfrog. Leapfrog looks at a wide range of factors, including infection rates, patient re-admission rates and the number of surgeries and elective surgeries performed.

You can read Leapfrog's 2021 review of Hudson Regional here: https://ratings.leapfroggroup....

Find out what's happening in Secaucusfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Hudson Regional has improved in ranking since it was taken over by new owner Yan Moshe in 2018: In 2017 and years prior, the hospital was routinely given a "D" grade for patient safety from Leapfrog.

Leapfrog did note in their report Hudson Regional has made "considerable achievement" in safe medication administration. Hudson Regional also performed 147 total knee replacement surgeries last year, much higher than Leapfrog’s standard of 50 procedures annually.

However, Hudson Regional received low points for having a higher-than-average rate of C-sections. Hospitals should have a rate of C-sections of 23.6 percent or less; Hudson Regional's C-section rate is 35.8 percent, said Leapfrog.

Also, Hudson Regional received low marks because it performs under the benchmarks of bariatric/weight-loss surgeries (HRH performed 34 bariatric surgeries compared to Leapfrog’s standard of 50 procedures annually) and not enough hip surgeries. HRH performed 44 total hip replacement surgeries compared to Leapfrog’s standard of 50 procedures annually.

“We recognize the important role that Leapfrog plays in setting the standards for modern healthcare practices and we are pleased to continue to make progress,” said Dr. Nizar Kifaieh who has been president and CEO of Hudson Regional Hospital since Moshe took ownership of the facility in 2018.

“As a community hospital, success in our core healthcare service areas, such as our Institute of Robotic Surgery, which offers patients and doctors the most advanced treatment modalities available anywhere, is a better measure than our overall Leapfrog grade," he added. "Hudson Regional Hospital strives to provide the best healthcare available to our community and that is reflected in our meeting or exceeding achievement standards in all the categories where we provide service.”

For context, about 32 percent of hospitals nationwide get an A grade. About 25 percent get a B, 37 percent get a C, and just 6 percent get a D. Less than one percent get an F.

Here are Leapfrog's 2021 NJ hospital grades and rankings:

A

B

C

D

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