Piedmont Fayette Hospital was awarded an ‘A’ in fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the hospital’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. It was one of six Piedmont hospitals receiving an ‘A’ grade, making it the safest healthcare system in the state. Over the past three years, Piedmont has reduced Hospital-Acquired Infections by 69 percent. Within the last three years, each of the six Piedmont legacy hospitals (those that have been in the system and on Piedmont’s Electronic Health Record for more than 18 months) have received at least one “A” grade from Leapfrog.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“Piedmont Fayette is committed to providing safe, high-quality, patient-centered care to the community. Our doctors, nurses, and staff members are consistent in their efforts and continually seek ways to improve,” said Piedmont Fayette CEO Stephen Porter. “I believe that awards like this give all of our patients and visitors a great level of confidence in the care that they receive at this hospital.”

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership is protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president, and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes genuine commitment at every level – from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors – and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.”

To see Piedmont Fayette’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org. To learn more about the services available at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, visit piedmont.org/Fayette.

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.