HMC Awarded ‘A’ for Patient Safety

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) has again earned an ‘A’ rating from The Leapfrog Group, ranking it among the safest hospitals in the United States.

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections, and other harms. Holyoke Medical Center was one of 832 awarded an “A” for its commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S.

“Holyoke Medical Center has received four ‘A’ grades in a row from the Leapfrog Group. This, once again, is an example of our continued commitment to providing the safest, high quality care for our community. We extend appreciation to all of our staff, who join us every day in striving to be the best place for care in the Pioneer Valley,” said Spiros Hatiras, President and Chief Executive Officer of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems Inc.

“It takes consistent, unwavering dedication to patients to achieve the highest standards of patient safety; An ‘A’ Safety Grade recognizes hospitals for this accomplishment,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the clinicians, Board, management and staff of Holyoke Medical Center for showing the country what it means to put patient safety first.”

Developed under the guidance of a Blue Ribbon National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.