UConn Health

April 29, 2021 | Lauren Woods - Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine

“A” in Patient Safety for UConn John Dempsey Hospital

The highest hospital patient safety rating has been awarded to UConn John Dempsey Hospital by The Leapfrog Group.

UConn John Dempsey Hospital tower at UConn Health

UConn John Dempsey Hospital, the teaching hospital of UConn Health, has received an “A”, the highest hospital safety rating by The Leapfrog Group.

“We are officially back to an ‘A’ and so proud of how this recognizes that our doctors, nurses, technicians, staff, and trainees always put the safety of our patients first while providing excellent, compassionate care, even through the pandemic,” says Dr. Scott R. Allen, chief quality officer and medical director of Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety at UConn John Dempsey Hospital. He also serves as interim chief medical officer for UConn Health.

UConn John Dempsey Hospital is among only 33 percent of U.S. hospitals nationally to be awarded an “A” in patient safety, and among only 8 hospitals in Connecticut to earn the high honor.

To earn 2021’s A-rating, UConn John Dempsey Hospital continues to excel and focus on maintaining its daily high quality and patient safety measures ranging from prevention of hospital infections to complications. For its ratings, the Leapfrog Group measures up to 27 publicly reported quality performance metrics for all 2,700 U.S. hospitals. Additionally, hospitals can voluntarily share additional quality and safety data that includes patient experience ratings and survey information regarding the organization’s culture of safety. UConn John Dempsey Hospital continues to share these extra measures that are counted toward its hospital rating.

For three consecutive years from 2015-2017 UConn Health’s hospital held Leapfrog’s highest A-rating in patient safety.

“Our high-performing hospital and clinical care teams have worked incredibly hard and made great strides to re-earn this A patient safety rating,” says Dr. Andy Agwunobi, CEO of UConn Health and UConn John Dempsey Hospital. “This year’s highest patient safety honor goes to all our dedicated employees who make our safe and unparalleled cutting-edge, academic medical center care possible.”

Note, the national nonprofit organization The Leapfrog Group, converts each hospital’s numerical score and assigns an A to represents the best Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade followed by B, C, D or F grade based on performance using evidence-based patient safety measures of publicly available hospital safety data.

For more information, visit: www.HospitalSafetyGrade.org.