By receiving all "A" ratings, the hospital system is being recognized for providing "safer health care and protecting patients from harm," according to an announcement from St. David's HealthCare. This announcement states that St. David's is the only hospital system in the Austin area to receive this rating for all of its eligible facilities.
"St. David's HealthCare is committed to providing safe, quality care to every patient every day," said Dr. Ken Mitchell, chief medical officer of St. David's HealthCare, in the announcement. "We appreciate and applaud the extraordinary dedication of our doctors, nurses and staff who helped earn this recognition, especially during this critical time of need. Earning this level of distinction during the COVID-19 pandemic is an incredible testament to our caregivers' commitment to providing exceptional care to our patients."
The Leapfrog Group is an independent nonprofit that assigns letter grades to hospitals across the U.S. based on more than 30 performance measures including prevention of medical errors, injuries, infections and accidents among patients in the care of these facilities. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed and available to the public. It is updated biannually, in the fall and spring.
Facilities in the St. David's HealthCare system that received this rating are St. David's Medical Center, St. David's North Austin Medical Center, St. David's South Austin Medical Center, St. David's Round Rock Medical Center and St. David's Georgetown Hospital. The system's Heart Hospital of Austin and St. David's Surgical Hospital were not eligible for the rating because they are considered specialty facilities, according to the release from St. David's.
