Brooklyn Hospitals Among Worst In The Nation, Study Finds

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Objects left in patients, accidental cuts during surgery and dangerous blood clots are just a few of the problems that hospital patients have to worry about in Brooklyn, a borough riddled with some of the nation's worst hospitals, a new study found.

Thirteen Brooklyn hospitals earned two Fs, six Ds and five Cs in a study that measured how likely a patient was to risk further injury or infection in hospitals across the U.S., the healthcare nonprofit Leapfrog Group announced Tuesday.

The borough failed to earn a single A or B for its hospitals, but two hospitals were honored with the rare distinction of an F — only 15 out of 2,632 hospitals failed Leapfrog’s examination completely — and seven broke records for problems that included patient falls and ICU training.

Here’s how your hospital ranks:

F Grades:

Brookdale Hospital Medical Center
Address: 1 Brookdale Plaza
Neighborhood: Brownsville
Complaints: This hospital has the worst score in the nation for dangerous objects left in patients’ bodies. For the complete review, click here.

Interfaith Medical Center
Address: 1545 Atlantic Ave.
Neighborhood: Bed-Stuy
Complaints: Poor communication between doctors, nurses, patients and hospital staff earned Interfaith consistently low scores. For the complete review, click here.

D Grades:

Maimonides Medical Center
Address: 4802 10th Ave.
Neighborhood: Sunset Park
Complaints: Maimonides had the lowest score in the nation for its ICU unit, whose doctors are inadequately trained to care for extremely sick patients, the study found. For the complete review, click here.

New York Community Hospital
Address: 2525 Kings Highway
Neighborhood: Midwood
Complaints: Like Maimonides, Community also earned 5 out of 100 for its ICU unit, whose doctors are inadequately trained to care for extremely sick patients, the study found. For the complete review, click here.

New York Methodist Hospital
Address: 506 6th St, Brooklyn
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Complaints: Methodist Hospital has the highest score in the nation for patients who suffer dangerous blood clots. For the complete review, click here.

NYC Health + Hospitals - Coney Island
Address: 2601 Ocean Parkway
Neighborhood: Coney Island
Complaints: This hospital ranked worst in the nation for its medicine-ordering system, which should help prevent things like dosage errors and allergic reactions. For the complete review, click here.

NYC Health + Hospitals - Kings County
Address: 451 Clarkson Ave
Neighborhood: Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
Complaints: King County Hospital earned a 0 for the staff’s inability to communicate with one another and prevent mistakes. For the complete review, click here.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center University Hospital of Brooklyn
Address: 445 Lenox Road
Neighborhood: Prospect Heights
Complaints: A statistically high percentage of SUNY patients receive accidental cuts and tears during surgery. For the complete review, click here.

C Grades:

Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
Address: 585 Schenectady Ave.
Neighborhood: Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
Complaints: This hospital ranks worst for the high number of falls, which can cause serious injuries to sickly patients. For the complete review, click here.

Lutheran Medical Center
Address: 150 55th Street
Neighborhood: Sunset Park
Complaints: Dangerous bed sores, which are caused when a patient remains in one position too long, are a problem at Lutheran, the study found. For the complete review, click here.

Mount Sinai Brooklyn
Address: 3201 Kings Highway
Neighborhood: Marine Park
Complaints: Mount Sinai earned one of the lower scores for its high rate of surgical wounds splitting open. For the complete review, click here.

NYC Health + Hospitals - Woodhull
Address: 760 Broadway
Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Complaints: Woodhull scored poorly for teamwork and leadership among colleagues. For the complete review, click here.

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
Address: 374 Stockholm St.
Neighborhood: Bushwick
Complaints: In comparison with the other hospitals in the study, a high percentage of Wyckoff Heights patients at risk for infections. For the complete review, click here.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton