Saint V, community hospitals receive top safety scores

Courtesy Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, along with three other Central Massachusetts Hospitals, received "A" grades on a semiannual hospital safety report issued by The Leapfrog Group.

Write a Comment

By Emily Micucci

Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester along with Milford Regional Medical Center, Harrington Memorial Hospital in Southbridge and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer received “A” grades on a semiannual safety grade report issued by The Leapfrog Group.

Grades for Central Massachusetts hospitals were unchanged from the last round released by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on hospital quality research in the spring. Following the top scorers this fall were Marlborough Hospital and Heywood Hospital in Gardner, which each earned “B” grades. UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster and MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick each earned “C” grades.

The Leapfrog Group reported grades for more than 2,600 acute-care U.S. hospitals. The grades are based on 27 measures, such as patient falls, problems with surgery, and communication about medication. Measures are borrowed from numerous sources, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Data for Athol Hospital, part of the Heywood system, and Clinton Hospital, which merged with HealthAlliance on Oct. 1, were not included in the report.