Kaiser Permanente San Rafael and Santa Rosa Hospitals Recognized as Safety Leaders

Kaiser Permanente hospitals in San Rafael and Santa Rosa received an “A” grade, the highest possible, for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, continuing a track record of excellence.

“These safety scores are truly a hallmark of excellence,” said Tarek Salaway, MHA, MPH, MA, Sr. Vice President and Area Manager, Marin-Sonoma. “We have continuously received these top A grade scores since the grading system began in 2012. This reflects the ongoing commitment by our physicians, nurses, and staff to provide safe, compassionate, high quality care to the communities we serve.”

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grades after examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, infection prevention and patient safety practices at U.S. hospitals, which are then assigned letter grades based on their safety track record of performance.

As of this year, there are only five hospitals in the entire state of California that have received a straight A grade in the biannual report which began in 2012. Two of those are Kaiser Permanente San Rafael and Santa Rosa.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 national performance measures to assign 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.

For more information about the award, please visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org. Additionally, read the Look insideKP article entitled, “Kaiser Permanente Northern California Hospitals Receive Top Patient Safety Scores.