By: Najla Alexander
RWJBarnabas officials announced that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, was awarded an "A" Hospital Safety Score rating by the Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.
Officials say Leapfrog assigns a letter grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.
Two other RWJBarnabas Health facilities also received an "A" safety grade, including Community Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus. Jersey City Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center, RWJUH New Brunswick, and RWJUH Somerset received a "B" hospital safety score, officials stated.
"Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway is proud of this recognition. The Leapfrog Group score is representative of our organization's commitment to creating a safe environment for our patients and their families," states Kirk Tice, President and CEO at RWJUH Rahway.
According to officials, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program exclusively based on hospital prevention of medical errors, infections, and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public, officials say, grades are updated twice annually in the fall and spring.
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to nearly 3,000 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year.
The Hospital Safety Grade's methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are accessible to the public, officials said.
Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said, " Earning an' A' Grade means RWJUH Rahway made a true commitment to putting patients first. "
"We congratulate the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff, and volunteers that all had a role to play in this achievement."
For more information on the Leapfrog Group and the Fall 2023 scores, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.