Providence St. Joseph receives recognition for patient, stroke care
Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank recently received high marks from the Leapfrog Group and the American Heart Assn.
For the fourth consecutive time, Leapfrog, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that grades hospitals across the country on patient safety, have given St. Joseph a B grade for this spring.
Leapfrog releases its hospital grades twice a year — once in the spring and again in the fall.
Dena Decker, director of clinical quality, regulatory compliance and risk management for St. Joseph, said the hospital just missed out on receiving an A grade this time around, but maintaining a high level of service was more important for hospital officials.
“One of our biggest improvements has been in our infection control,” she said. “Those [infection] numbers are drastically dropping, and I think that’s what’s helping our score.”
Regardless of what grade the medical center receives from Leapfrog or any other organization, Decker said St. Joseph’s main goal is taking care of patients and improving the quality of care the hospital provides.
She said the facility’s staff members are proactive in finding areas where they can improve and ways they can prevent safety issues.
“We serve our patients, and patients come to us expecting to get good quality, safe care,” Decker said. “That’s what we’re looking at every day.”
In addition to getting a good score from Leapfrog, St. Joseph received the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Assn. and American Stroke Assn. for its high standard of stroke care.
Two other Providence hospitals — Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and Providence Tarzana Medical Center — received the same recognition from the nonprofit.
If St. Joseph did not have its level of expertise and care for stroke patients, Decker said patients would need to be transported to other hospitals farther away to get the treatment they need.
“We’re able to provide more comprehensive care for our patients,” Decker said. “Time is crucial in these situations, so the longer it takes to give a patient the care they need, the higher the chance for more complications for the patient.”
