Still at the Top of the Class: WMH and WMC Earn “A” Grades for Patient Safety

Recognition reflects consistent top-tier safety and harm prevention at WMH and WMC

Valley Health’s two acute care hospitals – Winchester Medical Center (WMC) and Warren Memorial Hospital (WMH) – have again earned “A” Hospital Safety Grades from The Leapfrog Group, an independent, nonprofit national watchdog organization, recognizing their achievements in protecting patients from harm in the hospital setting. The accomplishment represents WMC’s seventh straight “A” rating, and WMH’s third in a row. Valley Health’s acute care hospitals are once again the highest graded facilities in the Northern Shenandoah Valley/Eastern Panhandle region.

“Earning our seventh straight ‘A’ grade from the Leapfrog Group is truly an honor and reflects the dedication of our entire team at Winchester Medical Center,” said Tonya Smith, president, Winchester Medical Center, and senior vice president of acute care for Valley Health. “Together, we are committed to a culture of safety that consistently prevents harm and ensures the well-being of our patients each and every day. Our patients trust us to do everything in our power to improve their health, and ensuring their safety will always be our top priority.”

Warren Memorial Hospital Administrator Jennifer Coello said receiving the hospital’s third consecutive “A” grade further affirms the WMH staff’s continued focus on patient safety. “Our caregivers are committed to providing safe, high quality care for every patient, every time. Each of us plays an important role in ensuring the safety of our patients, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We’re proud to serve our community and honored to be recognized once again for what we do every day to keep our patients safe.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The Leapfrog Group assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to nearly 3,000 general acute care hospitals across the country based on over 30 evidence-based patient safety performance measures reflecting errors, injuries, accidents and infections, as well as systems in place to prevent harm. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

The Spring 2023 grades reflect performance primarily during the height of the pandemic, during which there was an observed deterioration in patient safety on a national level.

“This new update of Hospital Safety Grades shows that, at the national level, we saw deterioration in patient safety with the pandemic,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “But these hospitals received an ‘A’ despite those challenges. I congratulate all the leaders, staff, volunteers and clinicians who together made that possible.”

Spring 2023 Hospital Safety Grades can be viewed at HospitalSafetyGrade.org and sorted by city, state, or zip code. This is a quick way for consumers to choose the safest hospital in their area to seek care.