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Illinois Fall 2019 Leapfrog Patient Safety Grades Released rise to 11th spot in national rankings; Loretto Hospital jumped to an A from a D

CHICAGO – Nov. 7, 2019 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, and driven in Illinois by the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH), announced today the fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The independent grading system assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to general acute-care hospitals in the US based on their ability to protect patients from avoidable errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

Statewide, 108 hospitals were graded, and 46 earned an A, 19 earned a B, 39 earned a C, four earned a D and no hospitals earned an F. Most notable improvement was for Chicago’s Loretto Hospital which earned an A, up from a D from spring 2019.

MBGH, a non-profit organization representing employer purchasers of health care, and the Leapfrog Group’s Illinois Regional Leader, annually encourages Illinois hospitals to participate in Leapfrog’s online patient safety survey.

Hospitals earning an A grade: • AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center • Loretto Hospital Bolingbrook • Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital • AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center • Loyola University Medical Center GlenOaks • Morris Hospital • AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center • NorthShore University HealthSystem, Hinsdale Evanston Hospital • AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La • NorthShore University HealthSystem, Grange Glenbrook Hospital • AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center • NorthShore University HealthSystem, Chicago Skokie Hospital • AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago • NorthShore University HealthSystem, • AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Highland Park Hospital Joliet • Northwest Community Hospital • AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth • Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Medical Center Chica Hospital • AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center • Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital Hoffman Estates • Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital • AMITA Health St. Mary's Hospital Kankakee • Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee • CGH Medical Center Hospital • • Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital • Elmhurst Memorial Hospital • Northwestern Medicine, Lake Forest • HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital Hospital • HSHS St. John's Hospital • OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical • HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Center • Illinois Valley Community Hospital • OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center • Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health • OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center Care Centers • OSF St. Joseph Medical Center • OSF St. Mary Medical Center • Rush Oak Park Hospital • Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare • Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Center dba OSF Sain • • • University of Chicago Medical Center • Rush Copley Medical Center • West Suburban Medical Center

“The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade offers critical patient safety information to consumers, in an easily digestible way, so they can make informed decisions about where they seek care in Illinois,” said Cheryl Larson, MBGH president and CEO. “We are committed to encouraging hospitals and working with employers to ensure patients in our community receive safe, high-quality care.”

The release of this fall’s Hospital Safety Grades coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) groundbreaking report, To Err Is Human, which revealed nearly 100,000 lives are lost every year due to preventable medical errors. Subsequent reports estimate that number may be twice as high.

“Twenty years after To Err Is Human, we are still devastated by tens of thousands of needless deaths every year from medical errors,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We are seeing progress, with 45,000 fewer deaths from the hazards included in the Safety Grade. Still, much more needs to be done. Transparency is the first step.”

Binder cited an analysis earlier this year by the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality that found 45,000 fewer deaths than a 2016 analysis, based on the prevalence of safety problems in hospitals graded by The Leapfrog Group.

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. hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

For more information about the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, as well as individual grades and state rankings, please visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.

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.

About the Midwest Business Group on Health MBGH is one of the nation’s leading non-profit employer coalitions of 125 mid, large and jumbo self- funded public and private employers, representing over 4 million lives and annually spending over $4.5 billion on health care. Members consist of leading health benefit professionals, with activities focused on education, research, benchmarking and community-based initiatives that increase the value of health benefits and health care services. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. mbgh.org # # #

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