Medical Centers Receive Safety Grades for Fall 2024

Excellent patient experience and strong safety practices have earned MyMichigan Health hospitals high achievements in The Leapfrog Group’s latest safety grade updates. MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma, Alpena, and West Branch maintained consecutive “A” grades. MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw earned a “B.” MyMichigan Medical Centers in Midland and Sault Ste. Marie earned a “C,” with Sault’s overall safety score improving from last release. Leapfrog did not provide grades for the Medical Centers in Clare and Tawas where measure volumes did not meet scoring criteria and does not grade critical access hospitals like MyMichigan Medical Centers in Standish and Gladwin.

To assess hospital performance, Leapfrog uses data provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on hospital infection rates, complications, and patient-reported hospital experience. Data is combined with an extensive survey about hospital safety practices on preventing errors and accidents.  More than 30 measures are evaluated. A grade of A, B, C, D, or F is assigned.  Nationally, the average hospital grade is a C.

“Receiving strong grades from Leapfrog means a lot to us as we continue to encounter external challenges like national nurse and provider shortages, increasing severity of illness in our patient populations, and changing regulatory, reimbursement and cyber landscapes.  We work first to ensure we are meeting best practices in patient safety. It’s a commitment we look at each and every day no matter what’s in front of us,” said Lydia Watson, M.D., president and CEO, MyMichigan Health. “We have recently made significant reductions in health care-associated infections and postoperative complications, and we have ongoing work to prevent falls with injuries. There is an inherent time lag with the quality improvements and the eventual impact on the overall scores. The work being done now will impact our Leap Frog grades in 2026 and beyond. So, while it will take a few periods for the scoring to catch up to current improvements, we continue to appreciate Leapfrog’s aim to inform consumers on hospital safety and we are very proud of all we have accomplished.”  

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. The biannual Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring and the results are free to the public.

Those interested in viewing the full grades may visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.