Southwestern Medical Center Earns ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group

Southwestern Medical Center received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit group that sets standards for excellence in patient safety and care. Southwestern is one of only 11 hospitals in the state of Oklahoma to earn an “A” grade during Leapfrog’s Spring 2024 assessments, which were announced on May 1.

Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. Only 29% of the approximately 3,000 hospitals reviewed nationwide earn Leapfrog’s “A” grade. Southwestern improved from its ‘B’ grade earned in Leapfrog’s Fall 2023 review.

“This is an exciting honor for our hospital that simply wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of everyone on our team, from our clinicians at the bedside to our dietician, pharmacists, and environmental services, among others,” said Adam Bracks, CEO of Southwestern Medical Center. “I’m extremely proud of the team and the culture of safety we have created, and welcome the added confidence this ‘A’ grade gives patients who come to us for high-quality, compassionate care in a safe environment.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program exclusively based on hospital prevention of medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually in the fall and spring.

“Everyone who works at Southwestern Medical Center should be proud of this ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes complete dedication at every level, and an ironclad commitment to putting patients first. I thank Southwestern, its leadership, clinicians, staff, and volunteers for caring so deeply for its patients and their safety.”

“An essential step in getting patients better is to keep them safe in an environment that’s somewhat predisposed to not-so-safe things like infections,” said Bracks. “The ‘A’ grade from Leapfrog and so many of our other recent accolades indicate that we provide elite-level patient care and experiences in an extremely safe manner.”

The Leapfrog recognition follows several recent accolades bestowed upon Southwestern over the past year. In March, the hospital was recognized by Healthgrades as a recipient of its 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™, an honor earned by only 15% of approximately 4,500 hospitals across the country. In October, Southwestern was included in Newsweek’s listing of “America’s Best-In-State Hospitals 2024,” and in August it was featured in the Becker’s Hospital Review listing of “2023 Great Community Hospitals in America.” Also in 2023, Southwestern was named the “2023 Best Hospital in Southwest Oklahoma” by the Lawton Constitution’s Reader’s Choice program.

To see the safety grades of Southwestern Medical Center and other local hospitals, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and search by city/state or zip code. For more information about The Leapfrog Group and for access to patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram and via The Leapfrog Group newsletter.