What are the Triangle’s safest hospitals? Here are the latest rankings
Some North Carolina hospitals were named among the nation’s best for patient safety while another moved up the rankings, new data shows.
Five Triangle medical centers again earned top marks in the latest bi-annual Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, which were released Thursday.
Local hospitals earning A grades include:
- Duke Raleigh Hospital
- Duke Regional Hospital in Durham
- Duke University Hospital in Durham
- UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh
University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill
WakeMed Raleigh Campus rose up the rankings since the fall, earning a B grade this time around. But another medical center, WakeMed Cary Hospital, stayed at a C score.
To come up with the findings, The Leapfrog Group says it used hospital data to score 2,622 hospitals for surgery complications, staff training and other patient safety measures. Eighty of the medical centers were in North Carolina, which was named No. 8 in the country, according to information provided by the watchdog group.
In the Triangle, WakeMed Cary received top marks in several categories, including handwashing and taking steps to prevent patient injuries, results show. But it got low scores in other areas, including infections.
In a statement, Dr. Chris DeRienzo, system chief medical officer and senior vice president of quality, said WakeMed is “focused on providing safe, high-quality care” for patients.
“While no ratings system can capture our full scope of quality, safety and service measures across an integrated health system, Leapfrog does allow us to benchmark past performance in selected areas,” DeRienzo said in the statement. “While we are excited to see some retrospective gains in the Spring update, we are more excited about the progress we see every day as we strive to continuously improve outcomes for our patients.”
The scores were released during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put a strain on hospitals across the country.
“During this critical time, when all of our team members are working incredibly hard to provide safe and excellent care for patients, this type of recognition is especially welcomed,” Dr. Wesley Burks, CEO of UNC Health, said last week in a statement. “The challenges due to coronavirus are new, but our hospitals remain dedicated to delivering safe and excellent care for all of North Carolina.”
A spokesperson with Duke Health on Monday didn’t immediately provide comment about that hospital system’s grades.
Southeast of Raleigh, UNC Health’s Johnston Health and Johnston Health Clayton also made it onto the rankings. The hospitals earned A and B scores, respectively.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 5:30 PM with the headline "What are the Triangle’s safest hospitals? Here are the latest rankings."
