The Leapfrog Group, a healthcare watchdog organization that monitors the safety and quality of care at hospitals nationwide, has named Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center as one of the nation’s top hospitals in its annual Leading Hospital Survey.
Leapfrog calls the designation “the most competitive national hospital quality award in the country” recognizing hospitals “that deliver the highest quality care by preventing medical errors, reducing mortality for high-risk procedures ... and reducing hospital readmissions.”
Mary Bridge was one of 12 children’s hospitals nationwide – and the only one in the Northwest – named in the survey. Among other hospitals, only Swedish Medical Center/First Hill and Virginia Mason Medical Center, both of Seattle, represented the Northwest.
“This is huge,” said Mady Murrey, Mary Bridge chief operating officer, on Tuesday. “Our little old Mary Bridge, started by the community, it’s phenomenal. You cannot imagine the pride that is in the hearts and heads of the nurses and doctors.”
The hospital submitted an application for recognition by Leapfrog, and the consumer organization inquired using several medical and leadership criteria, Murrey said.
“They look at outcomes – what your rates of infection are for central lines or ventilators, up to how the board (of directors) is involved in safety. It’s culture and leadership (and) the metrics,” she said. “They pull in a lot of factors. It’s a very objective set of criteria.”
“Leapfrog holds hospitals to a fixed set of defined and transparent standards that are extremely high, and only the hospitals that meet those standards earn the distinction,” said Leah Binder, Leapfrog president and CEO, in a release. “This year we raised the bar for achieving this award, and still we had a record number of hospitals which met the standards, including a record number of top rural hospitals.”
For more information visit www.leapfroggroup.org.
C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535 c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com
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