Long Beach Memorial Gets “A” for Patient Safety in National Study

In a scoring of hospitals nationwide, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center recently received an “A” for  hospital safety from national nonprofit, The Leapfrog Group.

The grade is based on 26 safety factors including medical errors, surgical misshaps, patient injuries, medication mistakes and infections, relying on safety statistics available to the public and a traditional scoring system of A through F.

Recently celebrating 100 years of service to the community, devotion to patient care is a top priority at the hospital offering cutting-edge technology and specialized care, according to a statement by Long Beach Memorial Vice President of Clinical Quality and Patient Care, Donna Hartman.  
“Long Beach Memorial is committed to providing the highest level of quality care and patient safety to each and every person we treat,” Hartman said in a statement. “Quality improvement is an on-going, continuous process and we plan to continue to work alongside our patients and community to continue to improve our high standard of care for all.”

Previously named as one of the U.S. top 125 hospitals by Consumers’ CHECKBOOK, as stated on their website, Long Beach Memorial is part of the MemorialCare Health System--a not-for-profit group that includes five other local area hospitals and four medical groups.

To compile the Hospital Safety ScoreSM, The Leapfrog Group put together a Blue Ribbon Expert Panel of nine members from prestigious universities around the country, according to a statement.

“It’s The Leapfrog Group’s goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, in a statement. “We congratulate the hospitals that earned an ‘A’ and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first.” 

The Leapfrog Group is an independent organization founded in 2000 and run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. 

The group advocates for would-be patients to utlize the Hospital Safety ScoreSM when planning their medical needs, such as the birth of a new baby or an upcoming medical procedure, as well as empowering patients with facts on how they can safeguard themselves during hospital stays.

For more information or to see how hospitals around the country stack up, click here.  

The nine-member panel of experts consists of John Birkmeyer of the University of Michigan; Ashish Jha of Harvard University; Lucian Leape also of Harvard University; Arnold Millstein from Stanford University; Peter Pronovost from Johns Hopkins University; Patrick Romano of University of California, Davis; Sara Singer of Harvard University; Tim Vogus of Vanderbilt University and Robert Wachter from the University of California, San Francisco, according to a statement.