A recently published hospital safety report disclosed that, commendably, ten New York City hospitals have landed A grades due to their outstanding efforts in safeguarding patients from preventable harm. The Leapfrog Group, which released its Spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grades, rates general hospitals nationwide with scores from A through F. These valuations are based on hospitals’ efficacy in safeguarding patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections.
Furthermore, some hospitals secured a B grade, while several others received a C or D. Effective safety measures that met Leapfrog’s standards included well-implemented medication ordering and administration systems, proper nursing staffing levels, and rigorous C. difficile infection prevention. Accomplishments were also achieved in areas of billing ethics and application of surgical safety checklists.
The biannual Leapfrog report, dedicated solely to patient safety, records improvements on 17 different metrics, encompassing healthcare-associated infections, medication safety protocols, and the patient experience. According to Leah Binder, Leapfrog’s president and CEO, hospitals across the U.S. have made significant progress in patient safety, thus preventing potential casualties.
Encouragingly, there has been a considerable drop in several healthcare-associated infections since their surge in fall 2022, as per the report. These include reductions in central line-associated bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections by half and 45% respectively, a 42% decrease in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, and a 30% drop in severe intestinal infections correlated with antibiotic usage. Moreover, the report reveals advancements in medication safety, wherein usage of computerized physician order entry systems rose from 66% in 2018 to 90% in 2025.
These systems can help flag potential prescribing errors. During the same period, barcode medication administration systems saw a surge in adoption, rising from 47% to 93%. Patient experience scores, gauged by Medicare and other federal surveys, have seen improvements since their fall 2023 low, inching up by about one point across five safety-related areas, like communication with medical staff and responsiveness of hospital personnel.
Remarkably, states of Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina, Utah, Montana, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, and California boast the largest percentage of A-rated hospitals. However, no hospitals in North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming managed to score an A grade. Following a South Florida federal court ruling involving non-participating facilities in Leapfrog’s 2024 or 2025 survey, about 450 hospitals were left ungraded. Leapfrog is appealing this measurement change, in the meantime reviewing its methodology.
Source: https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/4-nyc-hospitals-received-failing-safety-grades-new-ranking