(La Palma, CA, May 29, 2019) – La Palma Intercommunity Hospital was awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade and was the recipient of the Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence award. This distinction places La Palma Intercommunity Hospital among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals. The designation recognizes the efforts made in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.
La Palma Intercommunity Hospital is proud to announce that we are among the few hospitals in the surrounding area to receive both distinctions. The ‘A’ for Patient Safety and the top 5% ranking lets the community and neighboring cities know that we can provide the quality level of care they deserve.
The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. 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, injuries, accidents, infections, and other harms to patients in their care.
“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president, and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers, and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.”
“One of our goals is to maximize patient safety and continuously make major strides in healthcare,” said Allen Stefanek, CEO of La Palma Intercommunity Hospital. “These awards are not only a reflection of our dedication and hard work but of our commitment to higher standards. The culture of patient safety is ingrained in each member of this hospital, and we are committed to delivering the highest quality care.”
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. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, as compared to patients at non-recipients hospitals, on average*:
- 55.9% less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation, or hemorrhage during medical care.
- 50.9% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.
- 64.4% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.
- 57% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.
In addition, if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 14 Patient Safety Indicators, 127,667 patient safety events could have been avoided.*
[Insert any details on patient safety programs/investments that contributed to your hospital’s achievement or any other quality achievements you want to highlight].
View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 5e and 2018) to MedPAR data for years 2015 through 2017 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
To see La Palma Intercommunity Hospital’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
About La Palma Intercommunity Hospital
Founded in 1972, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, a member of Prime Healthcare, is a 140-bed acute-care facility dedicated to providing the community with high-quality, compassionate healthcare. Established as a not-for-profit organization in 2015, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital is the recipient of more than 72 Healthgrades recognitions of excellence in eight areas since 2014. Key services include general medical/surgical inpatient care and treatment, critical care, emergency services, behavioral health, orthopedics, maternity care, and wound care. For more information visit lapalmaintercommunityhospital.com.
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About Prime Healthcare
Founded in 2001, Prime Healthcare has emerged as one of the nation’s leading hospital systems. Prime Healthcare was founded by Dr. Prem Reddy, a physician with a mission to save hospitals, improve community healthcare and provide the very best care to patients.
Our philosophy is that all healthcare is local. Each of our hospitals serves the unique needs of their communities while providing exceptional care with the strength and support of Prime Healthcare. Through a physician-directed and patient-centered model, passionate dedication to quality, evidence-based best practices, operational efficiency, technology, and capital investment, our hospitals are recognized among the best in the nation. Prime Healthcare was recognized by Truven Health Analytics as a Top 10 and 15 Health System in the nation three times.