RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A national hospital safety watchdog group released its fall 2024 survey, giving letter grades to hospitals based on safety.
The Leapfrog Group ranked North Carolina 4th in the country for hospital safety. Nearly half of the state’s 92 hospitals received an “A” grade.
“We’re looking at things like the prevention of errors, injuries, and infections,” said Katie Stewart, the director of Health Care Ratings at The Leapfrog Group. “We’re assigning a letter grade to general acute care hospitals across the U.S. so patients and their families can have the information they need to make informed decisions about where to seek care.”
Stewart said the survey assesses around 30 different factors that can either raise or lower a hospital’s overall score. UNC Rex Hospital, which typically receives an “A”, scored a “B” this report.
“For some of the infections they got a little better,” Stewart said. “For some of them, more of them, they got a little bit worse. Those factors all combined, they might have been on the cusp of an A before. Now, they’ve fallen to a B, but they’re still performing well on a variety of different infections.”
At UNC Rex, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Meera Udayakumar said the hospital recognizes the grade and it’s a chance to grow.
“We missed an ‘A’ grade by less than a tenth of a point, but it’s a learning opportunity,” Udayakumar said. “There’s always something to learn.”
