PRESS RELEASES

Hospitals Get An A 

Lahey Clinic, Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital Awarded an "A" for Patient Safety by Hospital Safety Score 

Burlington, Mass., November 30, 2012 - Lahey Clinic, Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital were honored with an "A" Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.  The A score was awarded in the latest update to the Hospital Safety Score^SM, the A, B, C, D or F scores assigned to U.S. hospitals based on preventable medical errors, injuries accidents, and infections. The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation's leading experts on patient safety and is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families. 

"We are so proud to receive an "A" Hospital Safety Score at each of the three main Lahey Health facilities. The score reinforces our commitment to keep our patients safe, which is always our number one priority across the system," said Howard Grant, JD, MD, president and CEO of Lahey Health. 

"Hospitals like this that earn an A have demonstrated their commitment to their patients and their community," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "I congratulate the Lahey Health hospitals for their safety excellence, and look forward to the day when all hospitals will match this standard." 

To see the scores earned by Lahey Clinic, Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital as they compare nationally and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. People can also check their local hospital's score on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org. 

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).  

About The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

About Lahey Health

Lahey Health is a next generation health care system comprised of award-winning hospitals, primary care providers, specialist physicians, behavioral health, and senior care resources and services throughout Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.

More than 1,200 nationally-recognized locally-based physicians offer clinical excellence in primary care and virtually every medical specialty, including kidney and liver transplantation, cancer diagnosis and treatment, advanced cardiovascular care and orthopedic services.

Lahey Health includes Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington - a teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, North Shore, in Peabody, Beverly Hospital, Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, and BayRidge Hospital in Lynn, as well as 51 primary care physician practices, 8 outpatient and satellite specialty care facilities, 33 behavioral health centers and programs, and 3 assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.

The nonprofit Lahey Health is leading the way for what is next in integrated health care: making high-quality health care more personal, innovative and accessible.