Berkshire Medical Center Continues Streak of ‘A’ Grades for Patient Safety

PITTSFIELD — The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C.-based organization aiming to improve healthcare quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, has announced the fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades and awarded Berkshire Medical Center the elite designation of ‘A’ for its continued achievement in patient safety. BMC is one of only 42 ‘straight-A’ hospitals in the U.S. to be awarded an ‘A’ every grading cycle since 2012.  

“This consistent recognition for patient safety is reflective of the dedication our care team has to providing nothing but the best and safest care possible,” said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. “I congratulate and thank our physicians, nurses, and all support staff who have and continue to contribute to this commitment to excellence, which places BMC among an elite group of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.”

Leah Binder, president and CEO of the Leapfrog Group, noted that “only a very select group of hospitals nationally continue to earn an ‘A’ Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade year after year. It shows an unbroken commitment to protecting patients from preventable errors and accidents that harm and even kill too many people in our country every day. Thanks to Berkshire Medical Center for always putting your patients first.”

The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D,’ and ‘F’ to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections, and other harms. Developed under the guidance of an expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. The program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public. 

“The physicians, nurses, and entire care team at Berkshire Medical Center can and should be proud of this remarkable accomplishment,” said Dr. Gray Ellrodt, chief quality officer and chairman of the Department of Medicine at BMC. “By adhering to rigorous guidelines for each and every patient, our community can be secure in knowing that their hospital is among the elite 2{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of healthcare providers whose commitment to their safety is consistently validated by these national ratings.”