Alma, Alpena, West Branch Medical Centers Receive Patient Safety Award

MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma, Alpena and West Branch were three of 13 hospitals honored with a 2025 Hospital Patient Safety Award by the Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM). The award recognizes hospitals in Michigan consistently performing high marks and improvements in patient safety and quality of care. Hospitals can achieve two different awards, the Excellence Award and the Improvement Award. The three MyMichigan Medical Center locations received the Improvement Award.

“Receiving this recognition is not only a significant achievement for our Medical Centers but also for the communities we serve,” said Kay Wagner, D.H.A., M.S.N., R.N., vice president and chief quality officer, MyMichigan Health. “It really does reiterate the collective effort of our health care teams who work tirelessly to uphold the highest safety standards, shows our dedication to continuous improvement and ability to adapt and implement effective safety measures. More importantly, it assures our patients and their families that their well-being is and remains our top priority.”

To be considered for an award, hospitals must have participated in the 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, demonstrating the hospital’s commitment to transparency. The Leapfrog Group is the nation’s premier advocate of transparency in health care—collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data to inform value-based purchasing and improved decision-making.

Hospitals receiving the Improvement Award participated in the annual Leapfrog Group survey and demonstrated improvement in letter grades for four consecutive grading terms with Hospital Safety Grade (Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024). During the four terms, the grades must not trend backwards. The last term grade (Fall 2024) must be at least a “B” to qualify, and hospitals must improve by two letter grades during the four terms.

“Increased hospital patient safety contributes to lowering the cost of health care. Employers, patients and their families are often responsible for the costs that occur when an adverse event happens during a hospital stay – creating a preventable financial burden,” said Bret Jackson, EAM President. “Congratulations to the hospitals who earned an award this year. Your prioritization of patient safety is appreciated and one that all hospitals should invest time in.”

Those interested in more information on the EAM Hospital Patient Safety Awards may visit: www.eamonline.org