By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
The number of Kentucky hospitals getting As, Bs and Cs on a nonprofit group’s twice-a-year report card for patient safety was about the same for each grade in the latest report.
This year, The Leapfrog Group, based in Washington, D.C., gave hospital safety grades to 2,813 general acute-care hospitals based on how well they protect patients. Most of Kentucky’s 126 hospitals are relatively small, so they are not rated by Leapfrog; it rated 49 Kentucky hospitals.
The group does not grade small hospitals with “critical access” status because they don’t have to report quality measures to the federal government, nor does it grade specialty hospitals, government hospitals, or hospitals that don’t have enough publicly reported data.
The number of hospitals getting a grade this year was also impacted by a lawsuit. Following a federal judge’s order for Leapfrog to remove safety grades it assigned to five Tenet Healthcare hospitals in Florida. The order resulted from a lawsuit in which the judge called its grading method “unfair and deceptive.” Leapfrog decided to also remove scores for another 445 hospitals that did not submit metrics to its 2024 or 2025 survey. These are scored as “GNA,” or grade not assigned. Leapfrog is appealing the decision.
“Although the court ruling only applied to five hospitals, Leapfrog does not apply programmatic changes to individual hospitals because the Hospital Safety Grade is a national program,” Leapfrog said in a press release.
Ten Kentucky hospitals received a GNA mark, including: The Medical Center at Russellville; Mercy Health Lourdes in Paducah; Murray-Calloway County Hospital; Owensboro Health; Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital; Paintsville ARH Hospital; Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center in South Williamson; and Whitesburg ARH Hospital.
In the latest report, Leapfrog gave “A” ratings to 16 Kentucky hospitals. Kentucky’s percentage of A grades, 28.8%, ranked 22nd among states. Leapfrog gave Bs to 15 Kentucky hospitals, Cs to 17 and a D to one.
The grades are based on 22 evidence-based metrics that indicate how well hospitals protect patients from preventable errors, injuries and infections.
The Leapfrog site offers details on the measures for each hospital under the headings titled Infections, Problems with Surgery, Safety Problems, Practices to Prevent Errors, and Doctors, Nurses and Hospital Staff.
The report uses data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Leapfrog’s own survey and other supplemental data sources.
Kentucky hospitals getting As: Baptist Health La Grange; Baptist Health Lexington; Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell; Centerpoint Health-Winchester; Deaconess Henderson Hospital; Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville; Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown; Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset; Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville; Saint Joseph-London; Spring View Hospital in Lebanon; St. Elizabeth Healthcare- Ft. Thomas; St. Elizabeth Healthcare-Florence; T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow; Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa; and UK HealthCare Good Samaritan Hospital.
Kentucky hospitals getting Bs: AdventHealth Manchester; Baptist Health Corbin; Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville; Baptist Health Louisville; Baptist Health Richmond; Georgetown Community Hospital; Harrison Memorial Hospital; Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg; Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville; Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville; Norton Hospital in Louisville; Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Louisville; St. Elizabeth Healthcare-Edgewood; U of L Health Shelbyville Hospital; and University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital.
Kentucky hospitals getting Cs: Baptist Health Hardin; Baptist Health Paducah; Frankfort Regional Medical Center; Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center; Jackson Purchase Medical Center in Mayfield; Jennie Stuart Health in Hopkinsville; Jewish Hospital in Louisville; King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland; Medical Center at Bowling Green; Saint Joseph East in Lexington; Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington; Saint Joseph Mount Sterling; St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead; Taylor Regional Hospital in Campbellsville; TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital in Bowling Green; U of L Health – Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital; and University of Louisville Hospital.
Pikeville Medical Center was the only Kentucky hospital that was graded to get a D.