Harrington, Saint V, Nashoba, Milford, Marlborough hospitals tops for safety

Courtesy Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester is one of four local hospitals to receive an "A" in The Leapfrog Group's Spring 2017 Hospital Safety Score rankings.

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By Emily Micucci

Harrington HealthCare, Saint Vincent Hospital, Nashoba Valley Medical Center, Milford Regional Medical Center and Marlborough Hospital each garnered top safety scores in The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2017 Hospital Safety Score rankings.

The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit patient safety advocacy organization, gave those Central Massachusetts hospitals “A” grades in its semi-annual Safety Score, based on their performance in five areas of care, including infections; problems with surgery; practices to prevent errors; safety problems; and clinical staff.

Leonard Morse Hospital, MetroWest Medical Center’s Natick campus, received a “B,” as did Heywood Hospital in Gardner.

Trailing with “C” scores are both Worcester campuses of UMass Memorial Medical Center, HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster and MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham.

The last round of safety scores were released in October. Milford Regional Medical Center and Marlborough Hospital improved their standings, after earning a “B” and a “C” in the fall, respectively. Information on Clinton Hospital, Athol Hospital and HealthAlliance’s Fitchburg campus wasn’t included in the report. http://www.wbjournal.com/article/20161130/HEALTH02/161139993

While scoring takes into account surgical problems, not all errors appear to impact scores. Notably, Saint Vincent Hospital’s score has not been impacted by a surgical error which led to a kidney being removed from the wrong patient last summer. A Leapfrog spokeswoman said the Safety Score methodology does not account for that type of error.

Overall, Massachusetts hospitals rank relatively high for safety, with the Bay State coming in eighth for number of hospitals earning “A” scores. Nearly 52 percent of Bay State hospitals received got stop marks. Maine ranks highest for hospital safety, with almost 69 percent of hospitals receiving “A’s.” Alaska, Delaware, Washington D.C. and North Dakota, which are home to few hospitals, were last for safety, with no hospitals in those states receiving “A” scores.