CVMC Earns Eighth Consecutive 'A' Grade for Patient Safety in Spring 2020

HICKORY, NC – Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) was awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2020 Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes CVMC’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States. CVMC was the only hospital within the Catawba, Iredell, Burke, Caldwell, and Alexander region of counties to earn this designation.

The Leapfrog Group, a national organization that scores healthcare quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, assigns a Safety Grade of A, B, C, D or F to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.

Over 2,600 hospitals nationally were evaluated by The Leapfrog Group, and CVMC earned its eighth consecutive ‘A’ grade since Fall 2016.

Eddie Beard, president and CEO of Catawba Valley Health System, said, “Patient safety is not only the expectation of the people who choose our organization for healthcare, it is the number one priority for everyone working in our organization. We’re proud to achieve the highest possible grade Leapfrog can offer, but we’re even more gratified that this offers assurance to our community that we put the greatest effort possible into keeping our patients safe.”

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said following CVMC’s last ‘A’ score, “Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety Grades recognize hospitals that focus on advancing patient safety. This ranking provides an important resource for patients, and a benchmark for hospitals, to determine how care at one hospital compares to others in a region. Hospitals that earn an A Hospital Safety Grade deserve to be recognized for their efforts in preventing medical harm and errors.”

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. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American healthcare. 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.

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