Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Hospital
Receives “A” Safety Grade Again
Hospital records examined by The Leapfrog Group show that Kaiser Permanente hospitals rank high in limiting patient injuries, reducing medical errors and preventing infections
South San Francisco, CA, April 29 – South San Francisco Hospital is among nineteen Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California to receive the top score of “A” by the Leapfrog Group in its annual safety report, which examined and graded more than 2,500 hospitals throughout the United States.
The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Hospital Safety Scoresafter examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections at U.S. hospitals, which were then assigned A, B, C, D, or F grades for their safety records.
“We are very proud of these safety scores which point to the quality of care and service we provide our members at Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco,” said Frank Beirne, Sr. Vice President and Area Manager, San Mateo Area. “This recognition is a testament to the dedication of all our physicians, nurses and staff and shows Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to patient safety is being recognized on a national level.
Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California with “A” scores were: Antioch, Fremont, Fresno, Hayward, Manteca, Modesto, Oakland, Richmond, Roseville, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South Sacramento, South San Francisco, Vacaville and Walnut Creek. Additionally, Kaiser Permanente Redwood City and Vallejo received a “B” score.
“Kaiser Permanente is the model for the future of American health care,” said Dr. Robert Pearl, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. “Recognition by the Leapfrog Group, and other organizations such as the National Committee for Quality Assurance and California’s Office of the Patient Advocate, is validation of the superiority of Kaiser Permanente’s integrated, technologically enabled approach to patient care.”
The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded in 2000 to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. It is an independent advocacy group working with a broad range of partners, including hospitals and insurers. Since 2006, the organization has published an annual list of Top Hospitals in the U.S. using national measures of health-care quality, safety and efficiency. This is the third year it has published the Hospital Safety Scores, which use 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.
To see all hospital scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, the Hospital Safety Score website, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. Local hospitals’ scores are also available on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.
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About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.