Mercy Medical Center Nationally Recognized with ‘A’ Safety Grade from Leapfrog

SPRINGFIELD — Mercy Medical Center received an ‘A’ grade in the spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Mercy’s achievements in protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to healthcare quality and safety. It assigns an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D,’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country every six months. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care. This is the second consecutive ‘A’ grade Mercy Medical has attained after achieving the same in Leapfrog’s ratings for fall 2020. 

“This remarkable accomplishment not only underscores Mercy Medical Center’s commitment to the consistent delivery of safe, high-quality care, it also reflects the hard work and dedication of our colleagues at every level of the hospital,” said Deborah Bitsoli, president of Mercy Medical Center and its affiliates. “I am deeply grateful to all affiliated and employed primary-care providers and specialists, all hospital-based providers, and all members of the support staff for their combined efforts that have allowed us to achieve this important national recognition from Leapfrog.”

Dr. Robert Roose, chief medical officer for Mercy Medical Center and its affiliates, added that “back-to-back ‘A’ ratings from Leapfrog provide tangible evidence that our clinical providers and members of our care team embrace Mercy’s culture of high reliability and safety and welcome the opportunity for ongoing improvement in care delivery. Led by our Quality Department, this commitment to excellence prevents harm and fosters a healing, safe environment for all.”

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, Leapfrog uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of the Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but Mercy Medical Center shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”