Local hospitals get report card for safety
Two of our valley’s three hospitals got high marks on a recent report card. Leapfrog, a patient safety advocacy group, did the grading based on hospital safety.
“They look at clinical information and financial and safety information to make sure we are providing the best quality and efficient and quality care possible,” Alan Williamson from Eisenhower Medical Center said.
Eisenhower Medical Center and Desert Regional Medical Center both got an “A” for preventing medication errors, managing serious errors, and appropriate ICU staffing.
“We were extremely excited and I will tell you first person I went to talk to was chief nursing officer,” Carolyn Caldwell from Desert Regional Medical Center said.
Both hospitals touted the good grades as great news because both got “B’s” last year. Meanwhile, JFK Memorial Hospital got a “C”. This after the California Department of Public Health recently investigated JFK for what it described as “serious deficiencies” in patient care. As Desert regional tells us, this one grade isn’t the end all, be all. In recent years, JFK received recognition from the American Heart Association for treatment of heart failure and awards of excellence for hip and knee replacements and birthing practices.
“The sense of pride here in the community, we should be very proud of the great resources we have,” Caldwell said.
We reached out to JFK numerous times but we didn’t get a response.
You can find the results at www.leapfroggroup.org and type in a local zip code to bring you to our area hospitals.
