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Contact: Ryan Mastrangelo
207-779-2683
ryan.mastrangelo@mainehealth.org
FARMINGTON, MAINE – Franklin Memorial Hospital (FMH) received an “A” grade in the spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Franklin’s achievements protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. This is the second consecutive time that FMH has received an “A” grade in the same survey period. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is the only hospital rating program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care.
“FMH and the entire community health network is always working toward process improvement and making sure the processes we do have in place are working as they should to ensure patient safety,” says Barbara Sergio, FMH chief operating officer. “Safety is every hospital’s number one priority, and at Franklin, we collaborate across departments to monitor, educate, and improve all aspects of quality and safety to make sure we provide the best care to our community members.”
“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, and a Maine native. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but Franklin shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 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.
“This recognition is a reflection of the work our care team does every day to positively impact patient care here in our community,” says Trampas Hutches, FMH president. “This past year has presented us all with unique and unprecedented challenges and despite the pandemic, our care team worked hard to consistently deliver high-quality, safe patient-centered care.”
FMH was awarded an “A” grade today when Leapfrog updated grades for spring 2021. To see Franklin’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
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About Franklin Memorial Hospital
Franklin Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of Franklin Community Health Network, is part of the MaineHealth family, a not-for-profit integrated health system that is the largest in northern New England, consisting of eight local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working. Learn more at fchn.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 and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC 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.