National City Hospital Gets an 'A' Grade from Advocacy Group

NATIONAL CITY, CA -- Paradise Valley Hospital has received an "A" grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent, national not-for-profit organization founded by leading employers and private health care experts. The hospital was one of five in the region to receive an "A."

In addition to Paradise Valley, Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and Scripps Green Hospital, also in La Jolla, were the only medical centers to receive top marks out of 16 in the region that were graded.

Five hospitals in San Diego County received "B" grades: Tri-City Medical Center of Oceanside; Pomerado Hospital in Poway; UC San Diego Health La Jolla - Thornton Hospital and Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center in La Jolla; Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center; and UC San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Medical Center in San Diego.

The other six hospitals in the region -- Palomar Medical Center in Escondido; Scripps Memorial Hospital of Encinitas; Scripps Mercy Hospital of Chula Vista; Scripps Mercy Hospital of San Diego; Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center; and Alvarado Hospital Medical Center of San Diego all received "C" grades.
To compile its rankings, the Leapfrog Group says it uses "30 evidence-based measures of patient safety," including things like patient injuries, accidents and infections. Numerical scores are converted into letter grades.

Of 2,633 hospitals evaluated nationwide, 844 earned an “A,” 658 earned a “B,” 954 earned a “C,” 157 earned a “D” and 20 earned an “F." Here in California, 81 hospitals in the state received an "A" grade, while 63 were given a "B" ranking and 88 a "C." The remaining 25 hospitals that were ranked in the state received a "D."

The full rankings can be found by searching via city, state and/or zip code at http://www.hospitalsafetygrade...

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