French Hospital Medical Center only hospital in California to earn CMS Five Star Rating and 25 straight A’s from Leapfrog Group

San Luis Obispo facility one of only eight in the nation to hold both distinctions

San Luis Obispo, CA, August 23, 2024 – Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center is honored to announce it is the only hospital in the state of California to hold a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Five Star Rating while earning 25 straight ‘A’s’ in Hospital Safety from the Leapfrog Group. 

French Hospital in San Luis Obispo is one of only eight hospitals in the nation to simultaneously hold these top designations in patient safety. 

“These distinctions serve as a tremendous validation of the excellent, high-quality care delivered by the staff and physicians of French Hospital,” said Sue Andersen, President and Chief Executive Officer. “These respected third-party designations confirm the position of French Hospital as the Central Coast’s high-quality health care leader.”

CMS annually reviews and assigns star ratings for hospitals across the country based on their performance of five quality categories including mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care. The overall rating indicates how well each hospital performed on an identified set of quality measures compared to other hospitals in the U.S. The more stars, the better a hospital performed on the available quality measures. 

French Hospital is the only hospital in San Luis Obispo County to earn a Five Star Rating from CMS. 

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the caregivers and support staff for their dedication in providing quality health care to the communities of the Central Coast,” Andersen said.

The Leapfrog Group awarded French Hospital its 25th straight ‘A’ earlier this year – meaning the hospital has earned an ‘A’ in patient safety in every grading cycle from 2012 to 2024.

The Leapfrog Group assigns grades to all general hospitals across the country based on more than 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries, and infections – as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. 

Only 15 hospitals in the country have earned 25 straight ‘A’ grades from the Leapfrog Group and French Hospital is one of only two in California to earn straight ‘A’s’ in every grading cycle since 2012.

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About French Hospital Medical Center

French Hospital Medical Center is a state-of-the-art, 98-bed acute care hospital located in San Luis Obispo, California. French’s Oppenheimer Family Center for Emergency Medicine is the area’s most advanced emergency services center. The modern facility is home to the Copeland, Forbes, and Rossi Cardiac Care Center, the county’s premier cardiac center, providing the latest cardiac and imaging technology, and the Hearst Cancer Resource Center offering free education, resources and support to cancer patients and their families.