New report grades hospitals on patient safety

PHOENIX - A new report aims to help you make decisions when your life is on the line, as it grades hospitals nationwide on patient safety.

The Leapfrog Group put the report together, which details hospital safety information ranging from contracted infection, errors and accidents, with the goal of empowering patients with information before they enter a hospital.

Of the hospitals listed from Arizona, nine received an ‘A’ grade, seven received a ‘B’ grade and 30 received a ‘C’ grade. 

“This is just one element that can go into a decision whether or not to select a particular hospital,” said Pete Wertheim with the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Wertheim said while the report could offer a benefit for patients, he observed that not all hospitals were graded on the exact same criteria and recommended patients should consider other factors as well, such as conversations with a doctor.

“Ultimately, it comes down to the consumer making an educated and informed decision,” he said.

An informed decision is what Phoenix resident Dianne Hunter said is especially important, after her hip replacement surgery left her with a case of MRSA.

“This should have been a very simple procedure,” she said.

Seven months later, she is recovering from her sixth surgery and hopes to soon be fully healed. Hunter told ABC15 the new hospital report card is something she would take into consideration the next the next time she had to decide on a hospital.  

“I would definitely check it out,” she said.

Wertheim notes there are several other grading scales for hospitals and recommends you don’t make your final decision based on a single study.