French Hospital Medical Center Continues to Receive Straight A’s for Patient Safety from The Leapfrog Group

French has received an 'A� for patient safety since 2012, making it an impressive 16 A's in a row for the medical center and one of only 36 hospitals in the nation and only four in California to have earned this accomplishment

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA, - November 7, 2019 - French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) is pleased to announce that it has again received a letter grade of “A” on the most recent rating report from The Leapfrog Group, which focuses on patient safety. FHMC has received straight A’s since 2012. These ratings are a testament to French Hospital’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest level of care and compassion to the patients they serve.

The Leapfrog Group, one of the nation’s leading hospital ratings organizations, awards hospitals based on safety, quality of care, and value metrics. The Leapfrog Group scores an “A” to hospitals that achieve the best hospital safety performance score, using a set of 28 national measures. The Leapfrog Group provides consumers ranked statistics and informative data for selecting a medical center. The premise of the group is to provide accessibility to the public while allowing medical facilities the opportunity to measure improvements.  Dignity Health actively participates in the program, and the process offers a calculable opportunity for standardized advancements in the care, safety and quality of our patients. 

“These publicly reported ratings empower patients to make informed decisions about the facilities in which they receive their care based on hospital performance,” says Alan Iftiniuk, President and CEO, French Hospital Medical Center. “French Hospital is proud to have earned top ratings for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, and we are one of only 36 in the country to receive an “A” for 16 consecutive rating periods, signifying our commitment to providing the highest level of quality and excellence for our patients.” 

All figures in the Hospital Safety Score are a combination of publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and voluntarily submitted information by the hospital on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. 

All data are used to generate a simple letter grade from A to F. The score includes twenty-eight safety measures. Ten of the measures are process and structural measures and represent fifty percent of the score. Eighteen of the measures are outcome measures and represent the final fifty percent of the score.                    

Leapfrog’s hospital safety scores are released twice a year and are calculated under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel.  The ratings represent a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. A full analysis of the data and methodology used is available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.    
  
French Hospital provides renowned care, advanced technologies, and compassion throughout its spectrum of services. Their commitment to excellence continues to distinguish them as leaders in the health care industry.

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About French Hospital Medical Center
French Hospital Medical Center, located in San Luis Obispo, California, is rated among the top hospitals in the nation.  The Copeland, Forbes, and Rossi Cardiac Care Center provides the latest innovative cardiac and imaging technology, and is home to the Hearst Cancer Resource Center offering free education, resources and support to cancer patients and their families. Dignity Health Central Coast is an integrated network of top quality hospitals, physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services, including primary care offices, premier surgery centers, technologically-advanced laboratories, imaging centers and a full service home health agency; all recognized for quality, safety and service.