Eastern Shore Times

Riverside Walter Reed Hospital & Riverside Tappahannock Hospital Achieve Top Safety Grades in Fall 2020 Leapfrog Safety Report

Riverside Walter Reed Hospital and Riverside Tappahannock Hospital again earned top marks for patient safety performance in the Fall 2020 Hospital Safety Grade scores released last week by The Leapfrog Group, health system leadership announced today.

Riverside Tappahannock Hospital and Riverside Walter Reed Hospital were named ‘A’ grade hospitals, each for the third consecutive grading cycle.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

Just like in school, nothing tops an A.

“The dedication our team members bring to the patients they serve each day and Riverside’s overall commitment to quality health care have not wavered despite all of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mike Dacey, M.D., President and Chief Clinical Operations Officer for Riverside Health System. “Riverside has always prioritized patient safety and achieving an A grade yet again is a testament to the dedication and tireless work put in by every member of our staff.”

Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester completed a $55-million renovation at the end of 2019 that added a two-story surgical and inpatient services building, doubled the capacity of the emergency department and added state-of-the-art technology to the expanded operating rooms. New LED surgical lights are brighter and emit less heat than their previous counterparts at the 67-bed facility.

The project was the most significant in the 40-year history of the hospital.

“We improved every aspect of patient care with this renovation,” Dacey said.

Earlier this fall, VCU Health System finalized its plan to purchase 67-bed Riverside Tappahannock Hospital, which will expand services in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck regions to include a broader range of medical specialists and clinical trials.

The acquisition further extends the collaboration between two high-performing organizations, combining the clinical expertise of a community-based hospital with the nationally-ranked programs of VCU Medical Center under the umbrella of VCU Health System

Riverside Tappahannock Hospital was also named a finalist for the 2020 QUEST® Award for High-Value Healthcare from Premier Inc., a leading health care improvement company, for providing outstanding patient care.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is a public service that is becoming the gold standard measure of patient safety, cited in MSNBC, The New York Times and AARP The Magazine.

“We are extremely grateful to hospital leadership and health care workers who have remained steadfast in prioritizing patient safety as our nation battles COVID-19,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This ‘A’ is a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for Riverside Walter Reed Hospital and Riverside Tappahannock Hospital. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public. Fall rankings were released on Dec. 14.

Original source can be found here