Valley Health Winchester Medical Center earns fourth straight “A” grade for hospital safety from Leapfrog

Valley Health Winchester Medical Center (WMC) has received its fourth consecutive “A” grade for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, an independent, nonprofit national watchdog organization. This national distinction recognizes the regional medical center’s achievements in protecting patients from harm in the hospital setting.

“We are proud and honored to again be recognized with a top safety grade from Leapfrog,” said Grady W. (Skip) Philips, III, Valley Health Senior Vice President and President of Winchester Medical Center. “The last 20 months have stretched us in new ways as we’ve responded to the numerous challenges of COVID-19. We have an even deeper appreciation of the vital role every team member plays in ensuring the safety of all our staff, patients, families, and the larger community. A Leapfrog ‘A’ grade affirms our organization-wide culture of safety and our commitment to delivering high-quality care for every patient, every time.”

The Leapfrog Group assigned an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to 2,901 general acute care hospitals across the country based on over thirty evidence-based patient safety performance measures reflecting errors, injuries, accidents, and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. (Leapfrog does not currently assign grades to military or VA hospitals, critical access hospitals, specialty hospitals, or children’s hospitals.)

“Patient safety is top of mind for our entire team and is reinforced every day, on every shift, in every unit, through safety huddles and other practices we’ve developed and standardized,” said Nicolas Restrepo, MD, Valley Health Quality and Patient Safety Officer. “We are pleased to earn another ‘A’ in the latest round of Leapfrog hospital safety assessments; this is a testament to the continued commitment of our physicians and staff to preventing harm and safeguarding our patients.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital rating program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harms to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring. The latest Hospital Safety grades show significant variation in patient safety performance across U.S. hospitals, which underscores the importance of access to information that allows patients to select the safest hospital for their care.

“An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a tremendous achievement, of which this community should be extremely proud,” said Leah Binder, President, and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I thank the leadership and workforce of Winchester Medical Center for its commitment to prioritizing patients and their safety, especially during these trying times.”

To see WMC’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.

About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

About Valley Health Winchester Medical Center
Winchester Medical Center (WMC) is a 495-bed regional trauma and referral hospital offering specialty care typically available only at academic and metro area facilities. WMC is the largest of six hospitals, over 60 provider practices and Urgent Care centers, and other services provided by Valley Health, a nonprofit system serving a population of more than 500,000 in northwest Virginia, West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, and Potomac Highlands, and western Maryland.