Florida Hospital North Pinellas Awarded an “A” for Patient Safety by Hospital Safety Score

Tarpon Springs, FLA. —Florida Hospital North Pinellas was honored with an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.  The A score was awarded in the latest update to the Hospital Safety Score^SM, the A, B, C, D or F scores assigned to U.S. hospitals based on preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.

“Patient safety is and always will be our focus here at Florida Hospital North Pinellas. We will continue to work hard and do our best to ensure that we conduct our daily tasks free of errors, injuries, accidents and infections. We are honored to have our hospital included on Leapfrog’s list for patient safety,” said Bruce Bergherm, President and CEO of Florida Hospital North Pinellas.

“Hospitals like this that earn an A have demonstrated their commitment to their patients and their community,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I congratulate Florida Hospital North Pinellas for its safety excellence, and look forward to the day when all hospitals will match this standard.”

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).

To see Florida Hospital North Pinellas’ scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. You can also check your local hospitals’ scores on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

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About The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

About Florida Hospital North Pinellas:

Florida Hospital North Pinellas, located in Tarpon Springs, is a member of The Florida Hospital network of the Adventist Health System, the largest health care provider in the state. Each year The Florida Hospital network cares for nearly one million residents and visitors each year.  As a 168-bed, full-service hospital, Florida Hospital North Pinellas serves both the Pinellas and Pasco communities of west central Florida.  For more information, please visit our website:  FHNorthPinellas.com