West Michigan hospitals earn As for safety

West Michigan hospitals earn As for safety
Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital. Credit: Corewell Health

The Economic Alliance for Michigan, a nonprofit group comprised of some of the state’s largest employers and unions, and the Leapfrog Group announced the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

The independent grading system assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the U.S. based on their ability to protect patients from avoidable errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

West Michigan hospitals that earned an A grade include Bronson Battle Creek, Metro Health in Wyoming, Spectrum Health United Hospital in Greenville and Spectrum Health Zeeland.

“Patient safety should be a priority for all residents of Michigan, especially during the pandemic. Costly medical errors are an unnecessary burden for patients and employers,” said Bret Jackson, president of the Economic Alliance of Michigan (EAM). “The EAM strives to work with hospitals, employers, policymakers and other stakeholders in our state to ensure high-quality, safe care.”

West Michigan hospitals that earned a B grade include Ascension Borgess Hospital Kalamazoo, Lakeland Regional Medical Center-St. Joseph, Mercy Health Muskegon, Mercy Health St. Mary’s in Grand Rapids, and Spectrum Health’s Blodgett Hospital and Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.

“As we grapple with the current implications and lasting ramifications of COVID-19, hospital and patient safety have never been more important,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We thank all hospitals and heroic members of the health care workforce for their efforts to protect and save patients this year.”

In Michigan, 75 hospitals were graded and 32 earned an A, 28 earned a B, 14 earned a C, one earned a D and no hospitals received an F. Michigan ranked 14th overall in the country for patient safety.

Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.