Redwood City Kaiser Permanente earns "A" grade for patient safety

The Leapfrog Group recognized 16 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals with a top score of “A” in its biannual Hospital Safety Grades report, which examined and graded approximately 2,700 hospitals throughout the United States.

Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California with “A” scores include: Fremont, Fresno, Manteca, Modesto, Oakland, Redwood City, Richmond, Roseville, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, Vacaville, and Vallejo. Additionally, Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Antioch, San Jose, South Sacramento, and Walnut Creek received “B” scores.

“This honor is a tribute to the hard work our doctors, nurses, and staff performed this past year,” said Sheila Gilson, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente Redwood City. “Keeping our patients safe is our top priority every day.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the collective national health care system. Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals continue to be consistently recognized as among the country’s best for outstanding patient safety, positive outcomes, and patient experience.

In addition to the Leapfrog Group ratings, Cal Hospital Compare, which features quality and performance information on California hospitals, also recently named eight Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals to its Patient Safety Honor Roll. The hospitals include Fresno, Manteca, Redwood City, Roseville, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, and Vallejo.

The Patient Safety Honor Roll uses patient safety measures to evaluate hospitals across a variety of areas including hospital acquired infections, adverse patient safety events, sepsis management, patient experience, and Leapfrog Hospital Safety grade. The eight Kaiser Permanente Northern California were among a total of 73 California hospitals that made the honor roll.

“To be honored with these two awards here at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City is humbling,” said Grace Firtch, MD, physician in chief of the medical center. “The patient is always at the center of our care and their safety is our top concern.”

More about the Leapfrog Safety Grades

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Hospital Safety Grades after examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections at U.S. hospitals. The report includes data collected by national health care organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scores are calculated based on more than two dozen publicly available measures, and hospitals are then assigned A, B, C, D or F grades for their safety records. The grades are released as a free resource to help patients and their families make informed health care decisions.

Kaiser Permanente is one of America’s leading integrated health care providers and serves more than 12.4 million members. Nationally, 31 of 39 Kaiser Permanente hospitals, or nearly 80 percent, received a Leapfrog Safety “A” grade. Nationwide, approximately one-third of hospitals received an A rating.

For more information and a complete list of the hospital safety grades, visit Leapfrog.