Valley hospitals generally score well on survey

Area’s largest hospitals get A grades on nonprofit’s survey.

The Lehigh Valley's largest hospitals received A grades in the annual safety survey released Wednesday by the nonprofit Leapfrog Group.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and about half the nation's hospitals provide information, according to The Leapfrog Group's website. Overall, Pennsylvania ranked 14th in the survey, with New Jersey finishing at the top.

Lehigh Valley HospitalCedar Crest, St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill and Easton Hospital all received the highest grade.

“The ‘A' grades for this important measure of quality reflect the dedication and commitment of all our colleagues — physicians, nurses and many, many others — to ensure that the safety of our patients always comes first,” Dr. Brian Nester, Lehigh Valley Health Network's president and CEO, said in a news release.

The survey measures infections and complications, surgical problems, medication procedures, medical staff training and communication, among other things. Leapfrog has been conducting it for more than a decade in an attempt to reduce errors, infections and injuries at hospitals, the website notes.

“Our score reflects our strong performance in minimizing ‘Counts of Harm' — drastically improving patient safety, as well as commitment to investigate every single hospital complication, and a task force to rethink frontline staff utilization,” said Easton Hospital President Linda Grass. “We are honored to be recognized today by Leapfrog for delivering on this mission.”

While nearly 2,000 hospitals responded to the survey, not all of those provided information in every category. The Lehigh Valley-area hospitals that scored below an A either had information “not available” in some categories or declined to report some information, the survey shows.

These Lehigh Valley-area hospitals also received A grades: LVH-Muhlenberg, LVH-Pocono, LVH-Hazleton, St. Luke's Allentown, St. Luke's Anderson, and Grand View.

LVH-Schuylkill Medical Center on Jackson Street received a B, as did St. Luke's Miners.

St. Luke's Quakertown received a C.

Receiving D grades were: LVH-Schuylkill Medical Center on Norwegian Street, St. Luke's Palmerton and St. Luke's Gnaden Huetten.

The survey is available at leapfroggroup.org.

—Christine Schiavo