ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown is being recognized by a leading safety watchdog as among the metro areas with the best patient safety performance.
It's the first time the nonprofit Leapfrog Group has ranked metro areas based on the highest-scoring hospital grades.
Leapfrog, an independent national nonprofit organization known for driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety, released its spring 2024 Hospital Safety Grades this week.
“This prestigious achievement reflects St. Luke’s unwavering focus on providing exceptional care to each and every patient at all of our locations.”St. Luke’s Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol
The rankings are assigned to nearly 3,000 general hospitals and range on a scale from A to F, based on how well a hospital prevents medical errors, accidents and infections.
Both of the Lehigh Valley’s major health networks received a number of A and B grades.
St. Luke’s University Health Network got nine A grades across their acute care hospitals, including Bethlehem, Allentown, Anderson, Carbon, Easton, Monroe, Sacred Heart and Warren County, New Jersey, as well as Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital.
St. Luke’s Upper Bucks and Miners campuses got B’s.
“This prestigious achievement reflects St. Luke’s unwavering focus on providing exceptional care to each and every patient at all of our locations,” St. Luke’s Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol said.
“This kind of consistency across all of our campuses reflects the remarkable success St. Luke’s has achieved in integrating our hospitals into a single, unified network with a shared commitment to all-around excellence.”
Lehigh Valley Hospital
Two Lehigh Valley Health Network hospitals received A's: Lehigh Valley Hospital–Pocono and Lehigh Valley Hospital–Hecktown Oaks.
“Receiving these ‘A’ grades from Leapfrog lets our community know they’re in safe hands.”Dr. Matthew McCambridge, senior vice president and chief quality, patient Safety and Acute Care Continuum Officer, LVHN.
“Receiving these ‘A’ grades from Leapfrog lets our community know they’re in safe hands,” said Dr. Matthew McCambridge, senior vice president and chief quality, patient safety and acute care continuum Officer, LVHN.
“I am incredibly proud of colleagues who work at LVH–Pocono and LVH–Hecktown Oaks, because they work tirelessly to ensure our patients receive the safe, high-quality care they expect and deserve.”
According to Leapfrog, the latest report found that hospital patients are significantly more satisfied with care, and for the first time since the pandemic, the report showed a measured improvement across the board.
However, the grades are not back up to where they were before the pandemic when it comes to patient safety and care.
The top three metro areas across the country, according to the report, are Allentown, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Utah ranked No. 1 for states for the second time in a row.
The rankings come out bi-annually in the fall and spring.
