Best Hospitals In Virginia, DC — And Worst — For Patient Safety

A nationwide hospital safety analysis has found that 31 hospitals in Virginia received an "A" grade for preventing medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections, which collectively are the third leading cause of death in America. Virginia had one of the largest number of hospitals ranked as an "A" facility. On the flip side no Virginia hospitals received a "D" or worse. In Washington, D.C., one hospital earned an "A" grade and two failed.

The Leapfrog Group released its bi-yearly hospital safety grades on Tuesday, finding that hospitals overall have improved in reducing the number of avoidable deaths. The group assessed roughly 2,500 hospitals. Of those, 30 percent earned an "A," 28 percent earned a "B," 35 percent a "C," 6 percent a "D" and 1 percent an "F."

"The national numbers on death and harm in hospitals have alarmed us for decades. What we see in the new round of Safety Grades are signs of many hospitals making significant improvements in their patient safety record," Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, said in a release.

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The assessment system assigns school-style letter grades to general acute-care hospitals. The hope is to determine a patient's risk of further injury or infection if they visit a certain hospital.

Here are the full list of hospital grades for Washington, DC:

• Sibley Memorial Hospital: A
• George Washington University Hospital: C
• MedStar Georgetown University Hospital: C
• MedStar Washington Hospital Center: D
• Howard University Hospital: F
• Providence Hospital of Washington: F

Here are the full list of hospital grades for Virginia:

• Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center: A
• Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital: A
• Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center: A
• Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center: A
• Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center: A
• Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital of Richmond: A
• Carilion New River Valley Medical Center: A
• CJW Medical Center - Chippenham Campus: A
• CJW Medical Center - Johnston-Willis Campus: A
• Clinch Valley Medical Center: A
• Fauquier Hospital: A
• Henrico Doctors' Hospital: A
• Inova Fair Oaks Hospital: A
• Inova Loudoun Hospital: A
• Inova Mount Vernon Hospital: A
• LewisGale Hospital - Montgomery: A
• LewisGale Medical Center: A
• Norton Community Hospital: A
• Parham Doctors' Hospital: A
• Sentara CarePlex Hospital: A
• Sentara Leigh Hospital: A
• Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital: A
• Sentara Obici Hospital: A
• Sentara Princess Anne Hospital: A
• Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center: A
• Stafford Hospital: A
• Twin County Regional Healthcare: A
• Virginia Hospital Center--Arlington Health System: A
• Wellmont Lonesome Pine Hospital: A
• Wellmont Mountain View Regional Medical Center: A
• Winchester Medical Center: A
• Augusta Health: B
• Centra Southside Community Hospital: B
• Inova Alexandria Hospital: B
• Inova Fairfax Hospital: B
• John Randolph Medical Center: B
• Johnston Memorial Hospital: B
• Mary Washington Hospital: B
• Novant Health UVA Health System Culpeper Medical Center: B
• Retreat Doctors' Hospital: B
• Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center: B
• Sentara RMH Medical Center: B
• Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital: B
• Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center: B
• University of Virginia Medical Center: B
• VCU Community Memorial Hospital: B
• Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital: C
• Centra Lynchburg General Hospital: C
• Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital: C
• Chesapeake Regional Medical Center: C
• Danville Regional Medical Center: C
• Memorial Hospital of Martinsville: C
• Novant Health UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center: C
• Reston Hospital Center: C
• Riverside Regional Medical Center: C
• Riverside Walter Reed Hospital: C
• Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital: C
• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital: C
• Southside Regional Medical Center: C
• VCU Health System: C

Among the findings nationally, five hospitals that received an "A" grade for the first time this year previously received an "F" grade, the group said, and 46 hospitals earned an "A" for the first time since the grading system began six years ago.

Leapfrog said its analysis showed 89 hospitals that had previously received "D" or "F" ratings had improved to an "A" this year.

Rhode Island, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Idaho all previously ranked near the bottom of the state rankings with low percentages of "A" hospitals, but now all rank in the top 10.

Here are some of the other findings:

• The five states with the highest percentage of "A" hospitals this spring are Hawaii, Idaho, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia
• Ten states have hospitals with "F" grades are California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York

Leapfrog says you shouldn't refuse emergency care because of a bad safety grade. They're meant to be used as a guide for planned events and a research tool for potential emergencies.

Patch reporters Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.

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