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