Northern Hospital Recognized for Outstanding Record in Patient Safety
Awarded an A Grade in Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score
Mount Airy, NC – Northern Hospital of Surry County has once again been recognized for earning an A in this elite national ratings program, recognizing its strong commitment to patient safety. The announcement released nationally today by the independent hospital watchdog The Leapfrog Group, shows key shifts among many hospitals on the A, B, C, D and F grades rating them on errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
“We are so proud of the hard work and dedication of our clinical and quality staff who have consistently earned this grade A safety score. We take pride in caring for our patients and ensuring their safety is number one. It’s an honor to be one of only 31 percent of hospitals nationwide receiving a top score,” said Robin Hodgin, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. “Northern Hospital’s A grade is a powerful reminder of its commitment to putting patient safety above all else, and we are pleased to recognize the persistent efforts of their clinicians and staff to protect their patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “Our families, neighbors, colleagues and friends deserve a hospital that will pull out all the stops to keep them safe, and we urge Northern Hospital and all other A hospitals to preserve and renew their commitment to safety year after year.”
Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.
To see Northern Hospital’s full score, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Hospital Safety Score mobile app for Apple and Android devices.
About Northern Hospital
Northern Hospital of Surry County is an independently operated award winning facility with a number of outpatient service locations. Northern Medical Group is the hospital’s network of primary care and specialty providers delivering a comprehensive array of services to meet the needs of the community. Northern is recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Business North Carolina for excellence in patient care and has been consistently honored with a Grade “A” Hospital Safety Score from The Leapfrog Group. The state-of-the art Surgery Center houses a wide range of inpatient and outpatient procedures including orthopedics, gynecology, gastroenterology, urological, surgeries of the eye, and other general surgeries. Northern Hospital is located in Mount Airy, North Carolina and serves the northwest Piedmont region of NC and neighboring counties in southwest Virginia. For more information, please call (336) 719-7000 or visit www.northernhospital.com.
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. Hospital Safety Score, 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.