The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, again awarding A's to every eligible St. Luke's acute care hospital.

            The 11 campuses – Bethlehem, Allentown, Anderson, Carbon, Easton, Monroe, Miners, Sacred Heart, Upper Bucks and Warren, as well as Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital – were among a select group of hospitals across the nation awarded an A for their commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the nation. All 11 also earned A's last fall.

            "St. Luke's consistent, across-the-board excellence reflects the commitment of our doctors, nurses and other staff to extending the very best care to each and every patient at all of our locations," said Donna Sabol, St. Luke's Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer.

The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F twice annually – in the spring and fall – to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms.

            The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only rating solely focused on a hospital's ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Developed under the guidance of a panel of national experts, the program, which is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public, uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals.

            "Achieving an 'A' Hospital Safety Grade reflects enormous dedication to patient safety," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "I extend my congratulations to St. Luke's, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for creating a culture where patients come first."

            St Luke's high marks from Leapfrog echo those of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). In its most recent annual quality and safety hospital review, CMS awarded 10 St. Luke's hospitals the highest possible quality rating of five stars. St. Luke's was the only health network in the Lehigh Valley to receive five-star ratings.

            "Straight A's and five stars – St. Luke's is the only health network in Lehigh Valley to ever receive such high marks from both CMS and Leapfrog," noted Sabol, who spoke at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health conference on the subject of St. Luke's remarkable Leapfrog grades and other quality and safety achievements.