The non-profit Leapfrog Group recently released its biannual Hospital Safety Grades for Spring 2019, and while there were slight improvements over the Fall 2018 grades, many New York City hospitals continue to perform poorly. The group’s rating system is based on how hospitals keep patients safe from accidents, injuries, infections, and medical errors. New York City hospitals across the board were given mediocre grades.
The Good News
There were some bright spots in the Spring 2019 ratings. Overall there was an increase in the number of hospitals receiving a “B” grade and a decrease in the number of hospitals receiving an “F” grade. This is an encouraging trend when compared to the Fall 2018 ratings. However, there was only one hospital this round that received an “A” rating, and that was NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan. Four other hospitals received a “B” rating.
The Bad News
The vast majority of New York City hospitals received a rating of “C” or below. Overall 24 hospitals received a “C” grade, 15 hospitals received a “D” grade, and one hospital, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Queens, received an “F” grade. Hospitals with low grades faced problems with rates of infection, practices in place to prevent medical errors, safety problems, and staff communication issues. St. John’s Episcopal Hospital demonstrated a high rate of dangerous infections, an epidemic of dangerous objects being left inside a patient during surgery, and problems with communication among hospital staff. Any one of these issues can lead to serious injury or death for a patient.
The safety grades factor in 28 measures of safety when determining a letter grade for a hospital. The researchers estimate that over 160,000 lives are lost every year due to medical negligence. Leapfrog Group’s research found that patients treated at hospitals that received a “D” or “F” rating were at a 92% greater risk of suffering an avoidable death than if they were treated at an “A” rated hospital. Patients in “C” rated hospitals faced an 88% greater risk of avoidable death.
Contact an Experienced Negligence Attorney
If you’ve been injured due to negligence in a hospital, you should have your case evaluated by an experienced personal injury attorney. At Bonina & Bonina, P.C., we have over 50 years of experience helping New Yorkers who have been injured by medical negligence. Contact us online or call us at 1-888-MEDLAW1 to schedule your free consultation. Home and hospital visits are available. Se habla español.