For the second time in a year, Central Maine Medical Center has been awarded an ‘A’ from respected hospital safety organization The Leapfrog Group. The Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade designation recognizes CMMC’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States.
The Leapfrog Group is a national organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.
“Quality and safety are our highest priorities,” said David Tupponce, president of Central Maine Medical Center. “This “A” grade in hospital safety validates our efforts and our consistent progress toward those goals.”
The Spring safety grade marks the second time in a year that CMMC has been recognized for top-quality care; the hospital also received an “A” letter grade in November 2018. Additionally, CMMC was accredited last year for its advanced primary stroke care and four separate orthopedic subspecialties, and recertified as a Level II Trauma Center.
“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.”
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. hospitals twice a year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
CMMC’s emphasis on safety has resulted in significant decreases in:
- Central-line infections
- Catheter-acquired urinary tract infections
- Surgical site infections
- Pressure ulcers (bedsores)
- Post-operative wound dehiscence (infections along incision lines)
For more details about the Spring 2019 update of grades, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.
