Two Providence hospitals earn Patient Safety Excellence Award

Providence Holy Cross and Providence Saint Joseph medical centers have received the Healthgrades 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award, placing them among the nation’s safest acute care hospitals evaluated by Healthgrades.

This marks the third time Providence Holy Cross in Mission Hills has received this award, ranking it in the top 5% of the nation’s hospitals for safety, according to a statement from Providence. Providence Saint Joseph in Burbank earned the award for the second time and ranked in the top 10%.

“This award belongs to our doctors and our employees across the hospital for their diligence in maintaining safety, always keeping an eye out for any potential hazards,” said Dr. Bernard Klein, Providence Holy Cross chief executive. “Keeping our patients – and everyone in our hospital – safe is our first priority.”

Leaders at the two hospitals credited the commitment across Providence to its culture of “high reliability,” which drives efforts to recognize health care workers’ greatest responsibility is the safety of their patients and one another, the Providence statement said. Clinical caregivers are required to take part in this training, which emphasizes safety and teaches techniques and behaviors that have been proven to reduce error and to improve safety in high-stress environments, including health care.

During the 2019-2021 study period, 164,592 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in the hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades’ analysis also revealed that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

■ 61.4% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

■ 52.7% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

■ 66.1% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.

■ 67.3% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.