In spring 2022, Virginia hospitals were together ranked the second best for safety in the country.
However, this spring their standing has fallen to ninth, according to the most recent data from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization. Some of data the group used covered late 2021 and 2022, according to its website.
Some of the factors that led to Virginia falling could be worsening performance in certain areas and/or improvement in systems in other states, said Katie Stewart, director of health care ratings for The Leapfrog Group.
Almost 40% of Virginia hospitals received an “A” grade in spring 2023 — down from over 60% the year prior. In spring 2022, 43 hospitals received an A grade while 14 received a B grade, 10 a C grade and three a D grade.
The grades are awarded based on 22 national performance measures, and data to calculate the comparison used almost 3,000 U.S. hospitals.
The number of Virginia hospitals receiving B grades doubled to 28 in spring 2023 and the remaining 15 hospitals received a C grade.
In Hampton Roads, only Chesapeake Regional Medical Center received a C, while Mary Immaculate in Newport News, Sentara Obici in Suffolk, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, Sentara Norfolk and Sentara Virginia Beach received B grades.
A statement from Bon Secours said health reports don’t always capture the care experience a patient will have at a facility because of the varied ways the reports are crafted.
“While Bon Secours supports quality reports for consumers, it’s important to note they all measure quality a little differently depending upon their focus,” the statement said. “Some are based on information from insurance claims, others on standardized evidence-based medicine practices, and still others on patient and physician surveys.”
On the Peninsula, Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg, Riverside Regional Medical Center and Sentara CarePlex Hospital received A grades while Southside hospitals that earned A grades were Sentara Leigh in Norfolk and Sentara Princess Anne in Virginia Beach.
Nationwide, 832 hospitals, roughly 30%, received an A grade in Spring 2023, according to Leapfrog Group documents.
The Leapfrog Group has been doing the twice-annual review since 2012 and three Virginia hospitals have received A grades each time — Sentara Leigh, Sentara Careplex and Inova Loudoun, according to Stewart.
“These hospitals have consistently maintained that A status, which is quite an achievement, especially when we’re looking at a lot of, you know, hospitals struggling during the pandemic to kind of keep their patient safety infrastructure intact.”
Nationally, hospital-associated infections rose during the period, though not significantly in Virginia, according to Stewart.
“The dramatic spike in HAIs reported in this safety grade cycle should stop hospitals in their tracks — infections like these can be life or death for some patients,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a news release. “We recognize the tremendous strain the pandemic put on hospitals and their workforce, but alarming findings like these indicate hospitals must recommit to patient safety and build more resilience.”
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The average standard infection ratio for central line bloodstream infection, where an infection enters a patient’s bloodstream, increased by 60%, while it increased by 37% for an antibiotic-resistant Staph infection. The average standard infection ratio for catheter-associated urinary tract Infection also increased by 19%, according to The Leapfrog Group.
“Not only are HAIs among the leading causes of death in the U.S., they also increase length of hospitalization stays and add to costs,” Binder said in the release. “Our pre-pandemic data showed improved HAI measures, but the spring 2023 safety grade data spotlights how hospital responses to the pandemic led to a decline in patient safety and HAI management.”
Riverside Health System has seen a 60% decrease in healthcare-associated infections since 2018, according to Terry Sievers, senior vice president of quality at Riverside Health System.
“This, and our ongoing top marks, can be contributed to Riverside team members collaborating to do everything they can to put our patients at the center and ensure the safest, high-quality care for every patient, everywhere, every day,” she said in an emailed statement.
There were increases in central line associated bloodstream infections and the antibiotic resistant Staph at Sentara, but they were below national average increases, according to data provided by the health system.
Sentara saw decreases in other health care associated infections, including a drop of 35% for colorectal and abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections while the national average stayed static. It also recorded a decrease of 27% of the catheter associated urinary tract infection standardized infection rate, which increased nationally by 19%.
Ian Munro, 757-447-4097, ian.munro@virginiamedia.com