Valley Health’s Acute Care Hospitals Consistently Recognized for Top Tier Patient Safety

WMC and WMH Earn “A” Safety Grades for Fall 2023

Recognition reflects culture of safety and harm prevention at Valley Health’s acute care hospitals

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, making them the highest graded facilities in the Northern Shenandoah Valley/Eastern Panhandle region. The Fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grades are the first to reflect hospital performance post-pandemic and represent WMC’s eighth straight “A” rating, and WMH’s fourth in a row.

“Earning our eighth straight ‘A’ grade from the Leapfrog Group is a reflection of our care team’s unwavering commitment to patient safety,” said Tonya Smith, president, Winchester Medical Center, and senior vice president of acute care for Valley Health. “I’m extremely proud to work alongside a team of caregivers who prioritize patient safety — every day, on every shift, throughout the hospital.”

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.

Warren Memorial Hospital Administrator Jennifer Coello said, “Receiving our fourth consecutive “A” grade is a source of great pride for us at Warren Memorial Hospital. It’s a demonstration of our continued adherence to a culture of safety, and a reflection of our care team’s commitment to our community.”

Fall 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. The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Grades are intended to help consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The latest Hospital Safety grades show significant variation in patient safety performance across U.S. hospitals, which underscores the importance of access to information that allows patients to select the safest hospitals in their region for care.