LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, November 15, 2024 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, today released the fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Driven in Kentucky by the Kentuckiana Health Collaborative (KHC), these grades provide a critical measure of patient safety for hospitals nationwide. 29.5% of hospitals in Kentucky earned an “A” grade, ranking Kentucky 22nd in the country for overall percentage of “A” hospitals. This marked a significant improvement from the Spring 2024 Safety Grades, where Kentucky ranked 35th in the nation with 16.4% of hospitals receiving an “A” grade.
The fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade shows hospitals nationwide are making strides in patient safety across several performance measures including improvements in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene and medication safety.
“This round of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade shows improvements in patient safety across the country, and we’re particularly encouraged by the progress made here in Kentucky.” said Natalie Middaugh, President and CEO of the KHC. “As a multi-stakeholder coalition, the KHC understands that improving patient safety requires the collective efforts of all involved. By fostering collaboration and a shared commitment to high quality healthcare, we can make real strides in reducing preventable harm and improving care for our communities. ”
In Kentucky, 61 hospitals were graded. 18 earned an “A,” 18 earned a “B,” 23 earned a “C,” two earned a “D,” and none earned an “F.” The 18 hospitals that earned an “A” were:
- St. Elizabeth Healthcare – Ft. Thomas
- St. Elizabeth Healthcare – Edgewood
- AdventHealth Manchester
- St. Elizabeth Healthcare – Florence
- Deaconess Henderson Hospital
- Harrison Memorial Hospital
- Medical Center at Bowling Green
- Baptist Health Richmond
- Meadowview Regional Medical Center
- Spring View Hospital
- UofL Health Shelbyville Hospital
- Baptist Health Lexington
- Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital
- Clark Regional Medical Center
- Baptist Health Hardin
- T. J. Samson Community Hospital
- Saint Joseph – London
- Blanchfield Army Community Hospital
“The progress we’ve witnessed at the hospitals in Kentucky is encouraging and worthy of applause. However, there is still much work to be done to continue making gains in patient safety,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the hospitals in Kentucky that are clearly focusing on prioritizing patients and their safety—an effort that takes absolute dedication from hospital staff at all levels.”
The Leapfrog Group has a more than 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the U.S., based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring.
Detailed hospital performance information, including patient experience and safety measures, as well as grades for individual hospitals searchable by states and localities is available at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
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About the Kentuckiana Health Collaborative
The Kentuckiana Health Collaborative (KHC) is a non-profit coalition of businesses and healthcare stakeholders working to solve the complex health problems that face our local community with the goal of improving the health status and healthcare delivery in Greater Louisville and Kentucky. The mission of the KHC is to work collaboratively with healthcare purchasers and stakeholders to build healthier communities through high quality, affordable, and equitable healthcare across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The collaborative is particularly useful in solving problems where multiple sectors can accomplish more together than alone. The KHC works to accomplish its mission through a variety of healthcare measurement and community health initiatives that leverage employer engagement, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and education to transform and optimize healthcare.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among its initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 and assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. It is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring. To look up your hospital’s Safety Grade, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. For more from Leapfrog, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.
