Betsy Johnson Hospital and Central Harnett Hospital have both earned an A grade for patient safety, by a leading independent hospital watchdog group.  The grades were recently announced in The LeapFrog Group’s annual Hospital Safety Score ratings survey. The two Harnett County facilities were among 844 hospitals to receive an “A” this year.

The LeapFrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score rating system is considered the gold standard for patient safety. It is the first and only hospital rating system to be peer-reviewed by the Journal of Patient Safety.  Safety ratings are important because they allow patients to determine which local hospitals have the best patient safety track record and which consistently demonstrate improvement.

“Our health system is continuously seeking new ways to improve and to ensure we keep our patients safe,” said Kevin Jackson, President of Harnett Health. “Getting an A-rating from The LeapFrog Group is an external validation that our efforts at Betsy Johnson and Central Harnett are working.”

The LeapFrog group reviews 28 measures of publicly available safety data from hospitals nationwide to produce a single A, B, C, D or F score for each facility. The grades represent a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm.  More than 2,600 hospitals are reviewed each year by The LeapFrog Group to come up with the survey results.

“Protecting patients from harm is the most important charge for any hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The LeapFrog Group. “We recognize and appreciate ‘A’ hospitals’ vigilance and continued dedication to keeping their patients safe.”

Founded in 2000, The LeapFrog Group is a national nonprofit organization that collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering patients to find the highest-valued care based on potentially lifesaving information.