St. Luke's Identified as an Exemplar in Safety by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

BETHLEHEM, Pa., Sept. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Luke's is running with the big dogs. And when it comes to patient safety and health care excellence, St. Luke's University Health Network isn't just keeping up—it's leading the pack.

The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recognized St. Luke's alongside national heavyweights Houston Methodist and the Mayo Clinic as the nation's three high performing health systems for safety and quality—affirming St. Luke's status as a leader among the largest and best-known health care providers in the country.

The selection was based on publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. AHRQ reviewed 4,791 hospitals and 135 health systems with at least six hospitals. St. Luke's stood out as one of only three systems with multiple hospitals performing more than 75% above the national average in safety and patient experience.

To understand what sets these systems apart, AHRQ and its contractors—Ripple Effect and the American Institutes for Research—conducted onsite reviews at two hospitals within each system. These visits focused on clinically complex patient populations across urban, suburban, and rural settings.

Insights from these visits informed the Best Practices to Strengthen Safety Culture, Leadership, and Governance report, released publicly on Sept. 22 during a webinar. The goal is to shape a national "change package" of best practices in safety culture, leadership and governance that other health systems can follow.

St. Luke's Bethlehem and Miners campuses were selected for evaluation. Reviewers praised the Network's deep commitment to patient-centered care, noting that the "speak up" culture and "we fix things" mindset empower staff at all levels to raise concerns and drive improvements.

Evaluators highlighted St. Luke's leadership development strategy and hiring for soft skills such as empathy, communication and bedside manner—key ingredients in the Network's success.

CMS awarded five-star ratings to 10 St. Luke's hospitals—the highest possible score. Additionally, all 11 eligible hospitals earned "A" grades from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which focuses exclusively on preventing errors, injuries, and infections.

"St. Luke's achieves superior quality and safety results because of the commitment to excellence of our outstanding medical staff and employees," said Donna Sabol, St. Luke's Chief Quality Officer.

"Straight A's and five stars—St. Luke's is one of the few large health systems in the nation ever to receive across-the-board high marks from both CMS and Leapfrog."

About St. Luke's
Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 23,000 employees providing services at 16 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $4 billion, the Network's service area includes 11 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke's is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.

SOURCE St. Luke’s University Health Network, Inc.