Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara earns top teaching hospital, safety scores

Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center has received the top score of “A” by the Leapfrog Group in its annual safety report, which examined and graded more than 2,600 hospitals throughout the United States. At the same time, Leapfrog named Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara one of the top teaching hospitals in the US, one of only 9 in California and one of only 53 in the United States.

Teaching hospitals provide hands-on training for medical students, resident doctors, and clinical fellows to become top-flight physicians.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Hospital Safety Grades after examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections at U.S. hospitals, which were then assigned A, B, C, D, or F grades for their safety records.

“Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do here at KP Santa Clara,” said Chris Boyd, Senior Vice President and Area Manager of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center. “And to be also honored as one of the nation’s top teaching hospitals is definitely a tribute to the hard work of our physicians, nurses, and staff here at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara.”

Fifteen other Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California with “A” safety scores were: Antioch, Fremont, Fresno, Roseville, Redwood City, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Leandro, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, South Sacramento, South San Francisco, Vacaville, Vallejo, and Walnut Creek. Additionally, Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Manteca, Modesto, Oakland, and San Jose received a “B” score.

“Our physicians put our patients into the center of their caring,” said Dr. Susan Smarr, Ob-GYN and Physician In Chief at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. “Our advanced technology and coordinated care—with compassion and safety—-is how Santa Clara earned this honor.”

The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded in 2000 to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. It is an independent advocacy group working with a broad range of partners, including hospitals and insurers. The Hospital Safety Grade, considered the gold standard for rating patient safety in the U.S., is an analysis based on 28 variables, including rates of infections, medication mix-ups and health care-acquired injuries. It uses data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the American Hospital Association, and its own Leapfrog survey.

To see all hospital scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, the Hospital Safety Score website, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay.