MEMPHIS, Tenn., November 7, 2019 –Saint Francis Healthcare, which includes Saint Francis-Memphis and Saint Francis-Bartlett, earned an ‘A’ in the fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Saint Francis’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

Saint Francis also earned an “A” rating in the spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade—giving the health care system a continuous “A” rating for the year.

“Having an outstanding and consistent rating from an esteemed group such as Leapfrog reflects the unwavering commitment of our physicians, clinical and support staff to put patients and best practices first,” said Sally Deitch, CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare.   

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership is protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes genuine commitment at every level – from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors – and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.” 

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

To learn more, please visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.