Leapfrog Group Issues Top Grade to Kaiser Permanente South Bay

Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center has received the prestigious “A” top grade for excellence in patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, which today released ratings as part of its fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report.

This report is a biannual scorecard of more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals. Nationwide less than one-third of hospitals received an A rating.

“This recognition is thanks to the hard work of our staff and physicians, who continue to provide high-quality, compassionate and safe care, even in the midst of the current COVID surge,” said Margie Harrier, RN, senior vice president and area manager for the

Dr. Barbara Carnes, area medical director, echoed similar sentiments.

“The past nine months have been challenging for all of us and having a common purpose—saving lives—has been critical to seeing us through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Carnes. “This honor belongs to all of the physicians, staff and volunteers who put our patients first every day.”

Overall, 10 Kaiser Permanente hospitals received Leapfrog’s “A” rating in Southern California. They are: Anaheim, Downey, Fontana, Irvine, Moreno Valley, Ontario, Riverside, San Diego,

San Diego Zion and South Bay.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 national performance measures to produce a single letter grade representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade methodology has been peer reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety.