Hospital safety rankings for Solano, Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Mendocino counties in spring 2022

How North Bay hospitals scored

Grade “A”

Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center

Petaluma Valley Hospital

Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital

Adventist Health St. Helena

Adventist Health Ukiah Valley

Grade “B”

Novato Community Hospital

Queen of the Valley Medical Center

NorthBay Medical Center

NorthBay VacaValley Hospital

Grade “C”

MarinHealth Medical Center

Sutter Solano Medical Center

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital

Source: The Leapfrog Group's spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades, hospitalsafetygrade.org

North Bay hospitals had better patient experiences overall than other hospitals nationwide, according to a survey by a national watchdog group.

In fact, one facility achieved a higher grade than it received six months ago in the survey of nearly 3,000 general acute care hospitals in the U.S., according to The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades report.

NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville jumped from a “C” to a “B” grade in results released May 10 by the group. Leapfrog, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization comprised of business leaders who rate health care facilities based on over 30 safety factors that include preventable errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

“We have relentlessly been pursuing process improvements and continually working with our providers at all levels to elevate the quality of care in our two hospitals,” said Dr. Seth Kaufman, vice president and chief medical officer of NorthBay Healthcare, which operates both NorthBay VacaValley Hospital and North Bay Medical Center in Fairfield, the latter whose “B” grade was unchanged from November. “The measuring periods used for some of the Leapfrog data is a bit dated. We believe both our hospitals are currently performing even better.”

Also in Solano County, Sutter Solano Medical Center received a “C” grade, while Kaiser Permanente’s medical centers in Vacaville and Vallejo both were given an “A,” according to Leapfrog.

“This ‘A’ grade is more than just a score,” said Dr. Chris Walker, physician-in-chief, Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano. “It’s an affirmation that patient safety is at the center of everything we do.”

Echoing Walker’s statement was Nor Jemjemian, Napa-Solano area manager and senior vice president, Kaiser Permanente.

“These safety scores reflect the hard work and commitment by our physicians, nurses and staff,” Jemjemian said.

Leapfrog also gave an “A” grade to Kaiser Permanente’s two hospitals in Sonoma County.

“Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do here at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa and Kaiser Permanente San Rafael,” said Tarek A. Salaway, senior vice president and Marin-Sonoma area manager of Kaiser Permanente.

Some hospitals, including Sonoma Valley Hospital, choose not to participate in Leapfrog’s safety surveys, relying instead on other metrics, such as from The Joint Commission, Healthgrades, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Providence, whose North Bay hospitals include Petaluma Valley Hospital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital — stopped participating in Leapfrog’s surveys three years ago, as the Business Journal previously reported. At the time, those officials said private reporting agencies like Leapfrog have their own “proprietary scoring methodologies, which can make reporting and results interpretation difficult and complex.”

Even so, Leapfrog assigns safety grades to hospitals that don’t participate, based on publicly available data from numerous sources, according to Leapfrog.

As such, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital received “A,” “B” and “C” scores, respectively.

Frank T. Beirne, regional chief operating officer for Providence’s Northern California region, said in a May 23 statement that “providing safe, high-quality care to our community remains our top priority and we appreciate any metrics that help us improve our care.

“We continue to perform rigorous internal reviews of our quality and safety on a regular basis and report our data to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), which has consistently ranked our hospital at or above average for quality,” Beirne stated.

Meanwhile, Adventist Health St. Helena was the only hospital in Napa County to receive an “A” grade from Leapfrog, unchanged from the fall.

“I am proud we’ve earned another ‘A’ from Leapfrog,” said Dr. Steven Herber, Adventist Health St. Helena president. “We achieved this recognition by providing the best possible care to our patients, while ensuring they are cared for in a safe and compassionate environment.”

Back at Sutter Health, its Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital and Novato Community Hospital received a grade of “A” and “B,” respectively.

Sutter doesn’t comment on Leapfrog’s safety ratings, said spokeswoman Ashley Boarman.

MarinHealth Medical Center retained the “C” grade that Leapfrog assigned the facility in the fall.

CEO Dr. David Klein said in a statement. “At MarinHealth, we have a work plan in progress to improve our score.”

Klein did not elaborate on what the work plan entails, but told the Business Journal in November that the hospital was in the process of working on a “robust strategic plan” that includes improving operational efficiencies, growth initiatives and building on the culture of the organization.

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in the organization’s May 10 news release that “despite a general decrease in patient experience ratings, spring grades continue to show significant variation in safety performance across U.S. hospitals.”

“This variability is a constant reminder that the public must have access to information on which hospitals are safer so patients can make the best decision for themselves and their loved ones,” Binder said.

There were no hospitals in the North Bay that received a grade below “C,” consistent with the watchdog agency’s reporting in November.

Founded in 2000, Leapfrog has been releasing its twice-yearly hospital safety reports since 2012. More information about Leapfrog’s ratings, including details on individual hospital grades and state rankings, is available at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.

CMS measures five areas of a hospital’s quality from data the hospitals report to the federal agency. In addition to patient experience, measurements also include mortality, safety of care, readmission, and timely and effective care.

The Joint Commission, a U.S.-based nonprofit, accredits hospitals and other health care organizations through on-site evaluations that must meet the organization’s standards of patient care processes.

Healthgrades, a Denver-based company, evaluates U.S. hospitals on mortality rates and in-hospital complications. It gathers information from a variety of sources, including a government directory of all active providers in the country, as well as patient surveys, claims data and third-party sources.

Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care and education. She previously worked for a Gannett daily newspaper in New Jersey and NJBIZ, the state’s business journal. Cheryl has freelanced for business journals in Sacramento, Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.

How North Bay hospitals scored

Grade “A”

Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center

Petaluma Valley Hospital

Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital

Adventist Health St. Helena

Adventist Health Ukiah Valley

Grade “B”

Novato Community Hospital

Queen of the Valley Medical Center

NorthBay Medical Center

NorthBay VacaValley Hospital

Grade “C”

MarinHealth Medical Center

Sutter Solano Medical Center

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital

Source: The Leapfrog Group's spring 2022 Hospital Safety Grades, hospitalsafetygrade.org

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