NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Southcoast Health has been recognized for its dedication to patient safety by being awarded an A grade in the Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections within the hospital. Southcoast Health’s three hospitals – St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River and Tobey Hospital in Wareham – were each recognized with the top rating.

“Patient safety is paramount to everyone at Southcoast Health,” said Keith Hovan, President & CEO of Southcoast Health. “When patients are admitted to a Southcoast hospital, they and their families can be confident that we have the personnel, training and systems in place to maintain the highest level of clinical care and patient safety.”

The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Now, for the first time, patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.

To see Southcoast Health’s full score, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients and loved ones visiting the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook. Consumers can also download the free Hospital Safety Score mobile app for Apple and Android devices.

patient safety