3 Minnesota Hospitals Get Startling ‘D’ Grade For Patient Safety
Two primary things most people take into consideration when deciding upon a healthcare provider are overall quality of care and patient safety. I know that is true for me, as is having providers I trust and have a natural rapport with.
You'd think that hospitals across the country strive to take the best care of their patients, but the truth is that there are hospitals that let their patients down, sometimes with tragic results.
According to LeapFrog Hospital Safety Grade, these tend to be hospitals with teams that fail to work well together, or they lack leadership that ensures patient safety is the number one priority.
When environments such as this exist within a hospital, one mistake can steamroll into patients experiencing dangerous complications, slower recovery times, and even unnecessary deaths in some instances.
Startling Nationwide Safety Numbers Revealed
The statistics in the study are alarming:
- Upwards of 200,000 people die every year from hospital errors, injuries, accidents, and infections
- Every year, 1 out of every 31 patients develops an infection while in the hospital, an infection that didn’t have to happen.
- A Medicare patient has a 1 in 4 chance of experiencing injury, harm, or death when admitted to a hospital
- Today alone, more than 500 people will die because of a preventable hospital error
Because most hospital errors can be prevented, the report utilizes up to 30 national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to create Hospital Safety Grades. Factors such as medical errors, problems with surgery, safety problems, practices in place to prevent errors, and hospital staff are considered.
The hospital grades created by LeapFrog have become the gold standard for hospital safety rankings in America. They not only provide consumers with crucial information that allows them to make informed choices on where to receive care, but they also show hospitals the area(s) in which they need to improve.
Minnesota Overall Hospital Safety Grades
New hospital safety grades were just released this fall and Minnesota ranked #42 among all states for hospital safety.
Minnesota had 5 hospitals earn an 'A' grade, while another 6 hospitals earned a 'B'. The hospitals that earned an 'A' grade were all Mayo Clinic facilities:
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Fairmont
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Mankato
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Red Wing
- Mayo Clinic-Rochester
A whopping 30 Minnesota Hospitals earned a mediocre 'C' grade, but 3 hospitals fared even worse.
Minnesota Hospitals Who Earned A 'D' Grade For Hospital Safety
1. Essentia Health - Virginia Clinic
Located at 901 9th Street N in Virginia, Minnesota, Essentia Health's Virginia Clinic failed to score 'Better Than Average' in a variety of key indicators including handwashing, safe medication administration, patient falls and injuries, and more.
The Virginia clinic did score well in some areas, including responsiveness of hospital staff and communication with nurses. You can see the full report below.
2. M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center - West Bank East
Located at 2450 Riverside Avenue in Minneapolis, M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center - West Bank East failed to score 'Better Than Average' in a variety of key indicators including patient infections, death from dangerous treatable complications, handwashing, safe medication administration, patient falls and injuries, and more.
M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center - West Bank East did score well in some areas, including communication about medications and discharge. You can see the full report below.
3. North Memorial Health Hospital
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Located at 3300 Oakdale Avenue N in Robbinsdale, North Memorial Health Hospital failed to score 'Better Than Average' in a variety of key indicators including surgical infections, death from dangerous treatable complications, dangerous bed sores, safe medication administration, responsiveness of hospital staff, and more.
North Memorial Health Hospital did score well in some areas. You can see the full report below.
All hospitals now have time to improve in areas they fell short before the new Hospital Safety Grades are released in the spring of 2025.
You can see all the grades Minnesota hospitals included in the fall survey received by clicking the button below. Just search by state and select “MN" in the drop-down menu.
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Gallery Credit: Lauren Wells
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