Hospitals receive consecutive national recognition for top safety grade score

Loma Linda University Medical Center and East Campus hospitals were recognized nationally for achievements in patient safety and quality, receiving an “A” for fall 2020 from The Leapfrog Group, an independent watchdog organization. Announced today, the designations are widely considered one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive.

This achievement follows the hospitals’ spring 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade “A” award, making it the fourth and fifth consecutive A-ratings for the Medical Center and East Campus hospitals respectively. East Campus also once again earned the Top Teaching Hospital award, last received in 2018, and one of only two teaching hospitals in California to receive the award.

Kerry Heinrich, CEO of Loma Linda University Health hospitals, said these honors recognize the entire Loma Linda University Health team for their dedication to providing quality, safe care to each patient every single day.

“This has been a demanding year as we have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our work,” Heinrich said. “But what I saw in our health care team was a commitment to stepping up in every possible way to save lives, to comfort family members, and to provide the safest possible environment for each of our patients. The entire Inland Empire community benefits by our organization’s culture of safety that Leapfrog continues to recognize.”

The Safety Grade is a letter grade assigned to all general hospitals across the country and updated every six months, assessing how well the hospital prevents medical errors and other harms to patients.

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

“Each member of our team contributed to providing the very best care for our patients and our community, marking us as one of only two teaching hospitals in California to receive the Top Teaching Hospital award,” said Jonathan Jean-Marie, vice president/administrator for East Campus. “Receiving the ‘A’ designation for the fifth time and the Top Teaching Hospital for a second is a tremendous affirmation to our efforts to maintain our safety standards.”

Loma Linda University Medical Center and East Campus are home to more than 6,500 employees, including specialists, physicians, nurses and support staff. Backed by comprehensive inpatient and outpatient healthcare services, employees at the hospitals are dedicated to providing a safe and healing environment for their patients.

To see the hospitals’ full grade details or to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org. For more information about Loma Linda University Health services, providers or to schedule an appointment, please visit lluh.org or call 909-558-4000.