Contact: Carol Ann Campbell

cacampbell@njhcqi.org (973-567-1901)

PRINCETON — December 14, 2020 — The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing the nation’s employers, purchasers, and consumers of health care, today announced the Fall Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades.

Grades for New Jersey hospitals changed slightly from previous years with four fewer hospitals receiving A grades and two more receiving B grades. Six hospitals went up a grade while 15 hospitals went down a grade. Safety concerns remain at some New Jersey hospitals.

Leapfrog, through its independent grading system, assigns A, B, C, D, and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the U.S. based on each hospital’s ability to protect patients from avoidable errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. The Quality Institute is the regional leader for Leapfrog.

In New Jersey, 67 hospitals were graded with the following results:

• • 25 A hospitals – 37% (4 fewer A than last round)
• • 24 B hospitals – 36% (2 more B’s than last round)
• • 16 C hospitals – 24% (1 more C than last round)
• • 2 D hospital – 3% (same number of D’s as last round)
• • 0 F hospital – 0% (same number of F’s as last round)

The two hospitals with D grades are East Orange and St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital.

Because of the strain put on hospitals during the pandemic, Leapfrog offered hospitals the choice to submit a new 2020 survey or keep their previous 2019 survey results. All hospitals in New Jersey responded to Leapfrog by signaling whether they wanted to keep their past results or submit a new survey. About half chose to submit a new survey.

“Every day during this pandemic, we’ve been grateful for our health care workers and inspired by their dedication to high quality care during these incredibly stressful times,” said Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the Quality Institute. “We’re also thankful to health care leaders committed to transparency and to instituting best practices to reduce infections, errors, injuries and accidents. They show a commitment to safety throughout their organizations —qualities that we need now more than ever.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign the grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice each year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

Given heightened public concern about infection during the pandemic, Leapfrog is also releasing a new playbook for the community titled, Protecting Yourself During the Respiratory Illness Season. Developed by a team of volunteer experts and advisors, the free playbook serves as a guide for the public on steps they can take to decrease their risk of sickness, including how proper hand washing can prevent disease. The document adds to the resources for patients to stay safe during health care treatment.

For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, as well as individual grades and state rankings, please visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Facebook and Twitter. Journalists interested in scheduling interviews should email cacampbell@njhcqi.org, or Leapfrogpr@jpa.com.

About the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute

The Quality Institute believes that collaboration is essential to improving the health care system. That’s why we bring providers, payers, patients and decision makers together to advance health care safety, quality and affordability. The Quality Institute is the only independent, nonpartisan advocate working in New Jersey to promote accountability and transparency. We have more than 100 unique member organizations — all committed to improving health care for everyone in New Jersey.

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About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of

patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.