(WGHP) — Two of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s hospitals in the Piedmont Triad have been ranked among the best in the nation in a watchdog agency’s annual report.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Davie Medical Center in Bermuda Run has been designated one of the Best General Hospitals, and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Wilkes Medical Center was judged to be among the Best Rural Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group.
The Leapfrog Group grades hospitals on a variety of factors, including problems with surgery, safety, errors and staff and releases first its Hospital Safety Grades and then this week its Top Hospital Awards.
The evaluations are based on information collected in voluntary surveys submitted by the hospitals. The organization says it seeks to determine the facilities that uphold quality standards in various facets of care.
Davie Medical Center at N.C. 801 North was one of the 45 hospitals in 16 states that Leapfrog cited as the Best General Hospitals.
Two others in North Carolina made the list: AdventHealth in Hendersonville and WakeMed Cary Hospital.
Wilkes Medical Center at 1370 W. D St. in North Wilkesboro was one of 23 hospitals in 12 states to be rated Best Rural Hospital. Watauga Medical Center in Boone also was on the list.
Leapfrog also ranks the best Children’s and Teaching Hospitals, but no facility in the Triad made those lists.
Earlier this fall 12 hospitals were given “A” grades in the Hospital Safety Grades. All three major hospital systems in the region – Wake Forest, Cone and Novant – had hospitals on that list. There were seven more that earned a “B.”
What about safety grades?
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigned a letter grade to U.S. general hospitals based on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections that kill or harm patients. Leapfrog says 2,091 facilities participated for Fall 2021. Grades are based on “more than 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety, including for the first time, post-operative sepsis, blood leakage, and kidney injury.”
At HospitalSafetyGrade.org, the public can find detailed information about a hospital’s performance on post-operative sepsis and other measures used to grade hospitals.
- 32% received an A, 26% received a B, 35% received a C, 7% received a D and less than 1% received an F.
- North Carolina was one of five states with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals, along with Virginia, Idaho, Massachusetts and Colorado. Delaware, Washington, DC, and North Dakota and no “A” hospitals.
Who made the A-list?
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Davie Medical Center
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Lexington Medical Center
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Wilkes Medical Center
Cone Health Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington
Cone Health Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville
Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro
Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy
Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem
Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center
Novant Health Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem
Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center
Who earned a B?
Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin
Cone Health Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem
UNC Rockingham Health Care in Eden
No hospitals in the Piedmont Triad earned a C, D or F grade.
See the full results. And this is how it was done.
How they reacted
Cone Health issued a release in November to tout its hospitals that earned an “A” health safety grade: Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville and Moses Cone Memorial Hospital. The hospital system said this was the seventh consecutive A for Annie Penn and fifth for Alamance. Moses Cone had a B in 2020.
“High-quality care means better care and safer care,” Cone Health Chief Nurse Executive Kenneth Rempher said in the release. “You build a culture of safety.”
How many hospitals are honored?
This year, 149 hospitals from across the country received the Top Hospital Award. California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania each had 10 or more Top Hospitals among the four categories: Top General Hospitals (46), Top Rural Hospitals (23), Top Teaching Hospitals (72) and Top Children’s Hospitals (8 recipients).
How were the best hospitals were chosen?
Leapfrog says on its website that it uses data from its annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey that addresses topics such as medication safety, surgery outcomes and infection rates.
What is Leapfrog?
The nonprofit Leapfrog Group describes itself as a watchdog organization and an advocate for transparency in health care.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel
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