We at Regency Nursing are thrilled to report that our local hospitals have by and large earned A’s on their safety report card in April 2018. The report was released by Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, an initiative to improve health care in hospitals nation-wide.
Our area hospitals are important partners in our residents’ health care, and it’s great to know we have these quality facilities close by. We salute the top-graded hospitals, and their commitment to safety, and we wish them continued success in excellent patient care.
About the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades
The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care, began assigning grades to hospitals in 2012. They issue a report twice a year—in April and October—grading each hospital on an A–F scale. The Spring 2018 grades came out this morning, and 22 hospitals in New Jersey earned an A.
An A means the hospital is above average in most areas of patient care and outcomes. The grade does not measure doctors’ care; rather, it tells you how safe the hospital’s staff will keep you or your loved one. Leapfrog’s criteria include doctor and nurse staffing ratios, the number of post-surgical infections, and the rate of blood clots.
Some hospital officials maintain that Leapfrog’s methodology is too simplistic and doesn’t take the most up-to-date information into account. However, the report has become a valuable tool in educating the public and raising awareness about hospital safety.
While the survey downgraded New Jersey’s overall ranking to 17th from 11th place, we are still home to many top-ranked hospitals in patient safety.
Which hospitals earned an A
Bayshore Medical Center in Holdmel, just two miles from Regency Park, made the grade, as did Riverview Medical Center slightly farther away.
Regency Gardens in Wayne has five A-rated hospitals within a 20 mile radius: Hackensack University Medical Center, Clara Maass Medical Center, Holy Name Medical Center, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and The Valley Hospital. Of note, Saint Barnabas—also around 20 miles from Regency Grande in Dover—earned an A on every single report card since Leapfrog started issuing them in 2012. They are the only hospital in New Jersey with this distinction.
Morristown Memorial Hospital, just 12 miles from Regency Grande, also made it to the top 22. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, while not earning an A in the Leapfrog survey, landed near the top with a B grade. That means it’s average in some areas, and above average in others.
Here are New Jersey’s top 22 hospitals, listed in alphabetical order:
