Waycross, GA – For the sixth time, Memorial Satilla Health was awarded an ‘A’ (the highest designation) in the Fall 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the hospital’s achievements in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety.
The Safety Grade is a letter grade assigned to all general hospitals across the country assessing how well the hospital prevents medical errors and other harms to patients. It is updated every six months and is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.
“Participation in this voluntary performance evaluation process demonstrates the level of commitment our physicians, providers, nurses and hospital employees have to continuously improve the quality care and safety of our patients at Memorial Satilla Health,” says Brandi Waters, director of quality and medical staff services. “With this announcement, our hospital has achieved its sixth Hospital Safety Grade since 2019 – an accomplishment that should make our community proud!”
“I applaud the hospital leadership and workforce for their strong commitment to safety and transparency,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a sign that hospitals are continuously evaluating their performance, so that they can best protect patients. Your hospital team should be extremely proud of their dedication and achievement.”
Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses more than 30 national performance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and other supplemental data sources to assign grades to nearly 3,000 U.S. acute-care hospitals. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
Memorial Satilla Health received an ‘A’ grade today for Fall 2022 and is the only hospital within a 50-mile radius to receive an A designation. To see the hospital’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, 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.
About HCA Healthcare
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, comprising 185 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning healthcare system that uses its more than 31 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives.
Photo cutline: Pictured (l-r): Greg O’Quinn, HR Director; DeVonya Franzen, surgical services director; Crystal Mock, clinical informatics director; Tish McIntosh, behavioral health unit director; Patricia Hall, respiratory therapy director; Joanna O’Neill, critical care director; Glenda Beverley, surgical services manager; Angela Walters, sleep lab supervisor; Eddie Vergara, rehabilitation director; Haley Dixon, women’s and children’s services director, stand at Memorial Satilla Health’s main entrance displaying the hospital’s ‘A’ for hospital safety.