3 PA Hospitals Get 'D' Grade For Patient Safety, Nonprofit Says

Earlier this week, we told you about Pennsylvania's safest hospitals. But what about the hospitals that received the lowest grade for patient safety?

Hospital safety grades are released by the nonprofit group Leapfrog twice a year. The group says the goal of the rankings is to determine a patient's risk of further injury or infection if they visit a certain hospital.

The most recent batch of grades was released on Tuesday.

When it comes the the lowest-ranked hospitals in Pennsylvania, three received a D grade. Fifty-two hospitals got a C.

Luckily, there were no Pennsylvania hospitals that received an F. See the safest hospitals in the state here, according to Leapfrog.

Leapfrog says 27 evidence-based measures of patient safety are used to calculate the grades. Using that information, a numerical score is created and then converted into one of five letter grades.

The group uses performance measures from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections are taken into account by Leapfrog when calculating the grades.

The nonprofit says its Hospital Safety Grade methodology has been peer reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety. (You can read more about the letter grades here.)

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 are graded an F.

"Errors and infections in hospitals are the third leading cause of death in America, and people deserve to know which of their hospitals are best at preventing them," Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, said in a press release.

Here are the Pennsylvania hospitals that received a D:

1. Hanover Hospital, Hanover
2. Mercy Health System - Nazareth Hospital, Philadelphia
3. St Joseph Regional Health Network dba St Joseph Medical Center, Reading

Here are the Pennsylvania hospitals that received a C:

1. ACMH Hospital, Kittanning
2. Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh
3. Allegheny Valley Hospital, Natrona Heights
4. Brandywine Hospital, Coatesville
5. Canonsburg General Hospital, Canonsburg
6. Crozer Chester Medical Center, Upland
7. Easton Hospital, Easton
8. Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia
9. Einstein Medical Center - Elkins Park, Elkins Park
10. Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, East Norriton
11. Forbes Hospital, Monroeville
12. Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg
13. Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton
14. Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital, Lehighton
15. Heritage Valley Beaver, Beaver
16. Heritage Valley Sewickley, Sewickley
17. Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center, Meadowbrook
18. Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Jefferson Hills
19. Lancaster Regional Medical Center, Lancaster
20. Lehigh Valley Hospital - Hazleton, Hazleton
21. Lehigh Valley Hospital - Schuylkill Medical Center E. Norwegian Street, Pottsville
22. Lehigh Valley Hospital - Schuylkill Medical Center S. Jackson Street, Pottsville
23. Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol
24. Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Darby,
25. Moses Taylor Hospital, Scranton
26. Ohio Valley General Hospital, Mckees Rocks
27. Penn Highlands DuBois, DuBois
28. Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia
29. Phoenixville Hospital, Phoenixville
30. Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, Pottstown
31. Regional Hospital of Scranton, Scranton
32. Saint Vincent Hospital, Erie
33. Somerset Hospital, Somerset
34. Springfield Hospital, Springfield
35. Taylor Hospital, Ridley Park
36. Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia
37. UPMC Altoona, Altoona
38. UPMC Horizon - Greenville Campus, Greenville
39. UPMC Horizon - Shenango Valley Campus, Farrell
40. UPMC Jameson, New Castle
41. UPMC Mercy, Pittsburgh
42. UPMC Pinnacle Lititz, Lititz
43. UPMC Presbyterian, Pittsburgh
44. UPMC Shadyside, Pittsburgh
45. UPMC St. Margaret, Pittsburgh
46. Warren General Hospital, Warren
47. WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, Ephrata
48. Wellspan Good Samaritan Hospital, Lebanon
49. Wellspan York Hospital, York
50. West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh
51. Westmoreland Hospital, Greensburg
52. Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Wilkes-Barre

Click here to see the Pennsylvania hospitals that received the highest safety grades.

Patch file photo