Health & Fitness
42 VA Hospitals Earn ‘A’ Grades In New Hospital Safety Ranking
Virginia ranked among the top three states with hospitals receiving the most 'A' grades, according to Leapfrog's new report card.
A new hospital safety report released Wednesday shows that 42 hospitals in Virginia earned “A” grades for their ability to protect patients from often preventable harm.
The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grades are a biannual ranking that assigns “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” letter grades to all general hospitals in the United States based on their ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections.
Several facilities in Virginia were designated “Straight A” hospitals for sustaining their top scores for five or more consecutive grading periods. Those hospitals were:
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- Centra Bedford Memorial Hospital, Bedford
- Clinch Valley Medical Center, Richlands
- Henrico Doctors' Hospital, Richmond
- Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax
- Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church
- Inova Loudoun Hospital, Leesburg
- LewisGale Hospital, Pulaski
- Parham Doctors' Hospital, Richmond
- Reston Hospital Center, Reston
- Riverside Doctors' Hospital Williamsburg
- Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News
- Sentara CarePlex Hospital, Hampton
- Sentara Leigh Hospital, Norfolk
- Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, Virginia Beach
- Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Virginia Beach
- Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, Williamsburg
- UVA Haymarket Medical Center, Haymarket
- UVA Prince William Medical Center, Manassas
- VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital, Tappahannock
- Winchester Medical Center, Winchester
Other “A” hospitals in Virginia are:
- Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir
- Augusta Health, Fishersville
- Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Portsmouth
- Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center, Mechanicsville
- Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital, Rocky Mount
- Centra Southside Community Hospital, Farmville
- Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alexandria
- LewisGale Hospital Alleghany, Low Moor
- LewisGale Hospital Montgomery, Blacksburg
- Mary Immaculate Hospital, Newport News
- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
- Retreat Doctors' Hospital, Richmond
- Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, Gloucester
- Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital, South Boston
- Sentara Obici Hospital, Suffolk
- Sentara RMH Medical Center, Harrisonburg
- Southampton Memorial Hospital, Franklin
- TriCities Hospital, Hopewell
- UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center, Culpeper
- VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital, South Hill
- VCU Medical Center, Richmond
- Wythe County Community Hospital, Wytheville
According to the safety grades, 16 Virginia hospitals received a “B” grade. Additionally, 12 hospitals received a ‘C’ grade.
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Virginia ranks 2nd among all states for the percentage of hospitals receiving “A” grades in the spring 2026 report card. This was the first time the state placed in the top 10 after years of being in the bottom 20 states.
Leapfrog said its biannual report — the only national ratings program focused exclusively on patient safety — shows improvement in 17 measures, including health care-associated infections, medication safety systems and patient experience.
“The good news is that hospitals across the country are making meaningful strides in patient safety and helping save countless lives,” Leah Binder, the group’s president and CEO, said in a news release.
After peaking in fall 2022, several health care-associated infections declined sharply, according to the report. Central line-associated bloodstream infections fell by half; catheter-associated urinary tract infections dropped 45 percent; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections declined 42 percent; and serious intestinal infections linked to antibiotic use went down 30 percent.
The report also found gains in medication safety. Use of computerized physician order entry systems, which can flag prescribing errors, rose from 66 percent of hospitals meeting Leapfrog standards in 2018 to 90 percent in 2025. Adoption of barcode medication administration systems increased from 47 percent to 93 percent over the same period.
Patient experience scores, measured through Medicare and other federal surveys, have improved since hitting a low in fall 2023, rising by about 1 point on average across five safety-related measures, including communication with nurses and doctors and hospital staff responsiveness.
Among states, Connecticut, Virginia and South Carolina had the highest share of A-rated hospitals, followed by Utah, Montana, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and California. Montana and Maryland entered the top 10 for the first time, while Florida rose from 15th place in fall 2025 to seventh. No hospitals in North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont or Wyoming received an A grade.
About 450 hospitals were not assigned grades after a federal court ruling in South Florida involving several facilities that did not participate in Leapfrog’s 2024 or 2025 survey. The group said it applied the change nationwide and is appealing the decision while reviewing its methodology.
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