Long Beach Memorial Among Only 5% Of U.S. Hospitals To Earn Straight "A" Safety Scores From Leapfrog Group

LONG BEACH, Calif., Dec. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Long Beach Memorial is one of just 5% of U.S. hospitals and the only Southern California community-based teaching hospital recognized for continuous, outstanding dedication to patient safety by maintaining an "A" grade in every Hospital Safety Score evaluation. The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit of employers and large purchasers of health benefits, grades hospitals twice annually for their ability to prevent errors, injuries, accidents and infections. Long Beach Memorial is being lauded as a "Straight A" hospital as it has never received a grade lower than an A from Hospital Safety Score's eight evaluations since it launched in 2012.

The "A" grade is among the most significant achievements a hospital can receive and one of the most important indicators for patients seeking a safe place to receive care. Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Score, considered the gold standard rating for patient safety, offers consumers critical information on the safest places for a hospital stay. The scoring 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.

"When more than 1,000 people die daily from preventable accidents in hospitals, Leapfrog believes patient safety is Job One. To reinforce that goal of consistent vigilance, we've made it easier to evaluate a hospital's safety record," said Leah Binder, Leapfrog president & CEO. "Those earning an 'A' demonstrate their commitment to their patients and community. I congratulate Long Beach Memorial for safety excellence, and look forward to when all hospitals match this standard."

Additionally, Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach is one of only nine children's hospitals nationally to appear on Leapfrog Group's Top Hospitals which combines adult and children's facilities on one list. In this year's grading, Community Hospital also ranked high, receiving "A" and "B" grades.

"We are proud of our more than 6,000 employees, affiliated physicians and volunteers that serve the community at our Long Beach hospitals and outpatient facilities," says John Bishop, CEO of Long Beach Memorial, Miller's & Women's Hospital Long Beach and Community Hospital Long Beach." Our highly consistent commitment to patient safety is a hallmark of MemorialCare Health System's more than 200 care sites." Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children's together represent the West's second largest hospital campus.

Findings from Hospital Safety Score updates show that while hospitals have made statistically significant improvements on pre- and post-surgery safety processes and implementation of computerized medication prescribing systems, performance on safety outcomes, including preventing errors, accidents and infections, has not significantly improved except in the case of Long Beach Memorial and some others. Hospital Safety Scores are calculated by a Blue Ribbon panel of patient safety experts and are peer-reviewed, transparent and free to the public.

Long Beach Memorial is continually lauded for superior clinical quality and outcomes. It has been listed more than a dozen times on U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Hospitals and this year recognized among the top 10% highest performing U.S. hospitals for heart failure, pulmonary disease, knee replacement and hip replacement. Its Centers of Excellence and prominent physicians continue to receive national accolades for diagnostic, treatment and technological advances. These include MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute, MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute, MemorialCare Rehabilitation Institute, MemorialCare Orthopedic Institute, MemorialCare Neuroscience Institute, MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center, Stroke Program and the Emergency Department and Trauma Center. To learn more, visit http://memorialcare.org/long-beach-memorial.

SOURCE Long Beach Memorial