St. Joseph Medical Center earns ‘A’ for hospital safety

Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center has been recognized among the safest hospitals in the U.S. after receiving an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization. This national distinction celebrates the Medical Center’s achievements in protecting patients from preventable harm and errors. The new grade reflects performance primarily during the height of the pandemic.

“This top safety mark serves as confirmation that St. Joseph Medical Center’s nurses, physicians and staff members are committed to providing high-quality care in the safest manner possible,” said Joseph Frank, East Region hospital president for Penn State Health. “More impressive is the fact that they achieved this while facing the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic – an accomplishment that takes on added significance as we celebrate 150 years of providing skilled and compassionate care to the Berks Region.”

The Leapfrog Group assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on more than 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

See St. Joseph Medical Center’s full survey results at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.

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