St. David's HealthCare Facilities In Austin Region Earn 'A' Grade

AUSTIN, TEXAS — St. David's HealthCare facilities in Austin were recently awarded an "A" in a national ranking — the only healthcare system in the region to achieve the high grade, officials said.

All eligible St. David’s HealthCare facilities were bestowed the distinction in The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes the facilities’ efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S., officials explained. The Leapfrog Group is a national organization committed to improving healthcare quality and safety for patients.

The Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.

The Leapfrog Group assessment yields St. David’s HealthCare as the only healthcare system in the Austin area with all of its eligible hospitals receiving “A” Hospital Safety Grades. St. David’s Medical Center, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center and St. David’s Georgetown Hospital all received the “A” rating.

Related story: St. David's Medical Center Among 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

These St. David’s HealthCare facilities were among 855 hospitals nationwide to receive an “A” ranking in the Fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grades. St. David’s Medical Center has received straight “A” ratings since The Leapfrog Group launched the Hospital Safety ScoreSM initiative in 2012, officials noted. Heart Hospital of Austin and St. David’s Surgical Hospital were not included in the study completed by The Leapfrog Group because the facilities are considered specialty hospitals, officials explained.

“We are committed to providing the highest level of care and safety to our patients,” Dr. Ken Mitchell, chief medical officer of St. David’s HealthCare, said. “This recognition is a direct result of the unwavering dedication to quality by our doctors, nurses and staff.”

Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year, Leapfrog officials said. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public. For more information about the Hospital Safety Grades, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.

About St. David’s HealthCare

With more than 117 sites across Central Texas, St. David’s HealthCare includes seven of the area’s leading hospitals and is one of the largest health systems in Texas. The organization has been recognized with a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the nation’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence. St. David’s HealthCare is the third-largest private employer in the Austin area, with more than 10,200 employees.

St. David’s HealthCare is a unique partnership between a hospital management company and two local non-profits—St. David’s Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation. The proceeds from the operations of the hospitals fund the foundations, which, in turn, invest those dollars back into the community. Since the inception of St. David’s HealthCare in 1996, more than $430 million has been given back to the community to improve the health and healthcare of Central Texans.

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 healthcare. 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.

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