CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center has been recognized for its dedication to patient safety by being awarded an A grade in the Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections within the hospital.
Cary is also being recognized as a “Straight A’s” hospital for never receiving a grade lower than an A from the Hospital Safety Score since the score first launched in June 2012, which is hailed as a tremendous achievement.
“This is a very significant accomplishment”, said Kris Doody, RN and chief executive officer at Cary Medical Center. “To receive an ‘A’ every year since the beginning of this survey is a great tribute to our staff who work so hard to establish a safe patient care environment. We salute all of our staff for their outstanding effort and dedication.”
“Cary Medical Center is one of only 133 hospitals in the country to have achieved Straight A’s from the Hospital Safety Score since 2012,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “I commend you for your consistency in putting your patients first, and urge your continued vigilance in keeping your patients safe.”
An A grade is one of the most meaningful honors a hospital can achieve, and one of the most valuable indicators for patients looking for a safe place to receive care. The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, independent nonprofit.
The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.
The score 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. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade.
Now, for the first time, patients can also review their hospitals past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.
To see Cary’s full score and other information, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org or follow The Hospital Safety Score on Twitter or Facebook.
