North Carolina Hospital Safety Grades Released For 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- How safe are Charlotte area hospitals? New grades released Wednesday by a healthcare watchdog group will tell you just that.

The Washington, D.C.-based Leapfrog Group released their assessments of U.S. hospitals April 12. Of the 78 North Carolina hospitals rated by the watchdog group, 43 received an A, 21 received a B, 11 received a C and 3 received a D. None of the hospitals received an F rating.

To come up with the grades, Leapfrog looks at medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. The goal is to determine what a patient's risk of further injury or infection is if they visit a certain hospital.

According to the organization, more than 1,000 Americans die each day from preventable hospital errors. Hospitals given a B rating by Leapfrog had a 9 percent higher risk of avoidable death than A hospitals. That number jumps to 35 percent in C hospitals and 50 percent higher in D and F hospitals.

At the state level, Maine was ranked No. 1. Hawaii, Oregon, Wisconsin and Idaho rounded out the top five.

Since Leapfrog began its ratings in 2012, the organization says there have been significant strides in improving patient safety, such as a 21 percent decrease in hospital acquired conditions, increased use of computerized physician order entry systems, and millions of averted patient harms. More than 1,000 people a day are estimated to die from preventable errors, making this the third leading cause of death in America.

“When we launched the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade in 2012, our goal was to alert consumers to the hazards involved in a hospital stay and help them choose the safest option. We also hoped to galvanize hospitals to make safety the first priority day in and day out,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog.

Are you ready to see the grade at your area hospital?

Here are Leapfrog’s grades for Charlotte and Lake Norman area hospitals. You can find the grades for all North Carolina hospitals here. (Click on the name for more information about each individual listing.)

• Carolinas Medical Center - B

• Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center - B

• Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy - B

• Carolinas Healthcare System - University - B

Image via Pixabay

Deb Belt contributed to this article.