BIDDEFORD — The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C.- based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, has released the new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades and its good news for Southern Maine Health Care.

SMHC was awarded an ‘A’, one of only 750 hospitals nationally that received The Leapfrog Group’s highest rating for its efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S. 

The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.

“When patients choose Southern Maine Health Care, they trust us to protect them from preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections while they are under our care in the hospital,” said SMHC President and CEO Ed McGeachey. “SMHC devotes significant resources to ensure that we follow best practices for patient safety. So it is very rewarding to receive The Leapfrog Group’s highest national rating for Hospital Safety.”

Leapfrog officials agree with that assessment. 

“This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections, and injuries,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Receiving an ‘A’ Safety Grade means a hospital is among the best in the country for preventing these terrible problems and putting their patients first, 24 hours a day.”

Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to about 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

To see SMHC’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook.

Southern Maine Health Care is a national award-winning healthcare system with a non-profit mission to improve the health and health care of the communities it serves. 

SMHC includes a full service, acute care medical center in Biddeford, with York County’s only inpatient mental health unit. Emergency care, surgical services, and diagnostic and therapy services are available at SMHC’s Medical Centers in Biddeford and Sanford. It offers primary care and multi-specialty physician services, diagnostic and therapy services, and Walk-In Care centers in various York County communities including Biddeford, Kennebunk, Saco, Sanford, North Berwick and Waterboro.

The organization is Joint Commission accredited and has been recognized for quality excellence by numerous outside organizations.

To learn more about SMHC and SMHC providers, visit www.smhc.org,https://www.youtube.com/c/smhcorgme, or https://twitter.com/SMHCHealth.