Know Your Hospital’s Safety Grade Before Your Stay

The stress of a serious injury or illness can be heightened by not knowing which hospital is the best choice for your care. To make that process a little easier for people, the Leapfrog Group–in conjunction withThe Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety–publishes Hospital Safety Grades twice each year for thousands of hospitals across the country. These hospital ratings are the only ones that focus exclusively on patient safety, scoring hospitals on how safe they keep their patients from injuries, infections, accidents, and errors. The Hospital Safety Grades are a valuable tool that you can use to make sure you or a loved one is getting the safest care available when confronted with health issues.

The grades, which are peer-reviewed and published, rely on a panel of safety experts, national performance measures, and surveys to assign a grade to each hospital. The letter grades represent the hospital’s overall performance and ability to keep patients safe from preventable injuries and medical errors. The A, B, C, D, or F grades give consumers a quick way to choose the best hospital for their medical care.

Why is this so important? Because preventable hospital errors are a huge cause of death in the US. Depending on which study you look at, between 160,000 and 400,000 people die each year from preventable hospital mistakes. And patients at D and F hospitals face a 92% greater risk of dying from safety problems than patients at an A-rated hospital. While most hospitals do have a safety grade, they are not required to have one. If a hospital does not have enough safety data to supply Leapfrog with, they will not be given a grade. To find out how your safe your hospital is, see the list below.

Safety Grades for hospitals in Illinois as of January 14th, 2020:

AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook: A

AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Glen Oaks: A

AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale: A

AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La Grange: A

AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center Chicago: A

AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago: A

AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet: A

AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago: A

AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates: A

AMITA Health St. Mary’s Hospital Kankakee: A

CGH Medical Center: A

Edward Hospital: A

Elmhurst Memorial Hospital: A

HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital: A

HSHS St. John’s Hospital: A

HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital: A

Illinois Valley Community Hospital: A

Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers: A

Loretto Hospital: A

Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital: A

Loyola University Medical Center: A

Morris Hospital: A

NorthShore University HealthSystem – Evanston Hospital: A

NorthShore University HealthSystem – Glenbrook Hospital: A

NorthShore University HealthSystem – Skokie Hospital: A

NorthShore University HealthSystem – Highland Park Hospital: A

Northwest Community Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital: A

Northwestern Medicine – Lake Forest Hospital: A

OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center: A

OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center: A

OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center: A

OSF St. Joseph Medical Center: A

OSF St. Mary Medical Center: A

Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center dba OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center: A

Riverside Medical Center: A

Rush Copley Medical Center: A

Rush Oak Park Hospital: A

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center: A

Silver Cross Hospital: A

University of Chicago Medical Center: A

West Suburban Medical Center: A

Advocate Sherman Hospital: B

AMITA Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center Elk Grove Village: B

AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center Aurora: B

AMITA Health Saint Francis Hospital Evanston: B

Anderson Hospital: B

Blessing Hospital: B

Carle Foundation Hospital: B

Crossroads Community Hospital: B

FHN Memorial Hospital: B

HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital: B

Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital: B

MacNeal Hospital: B

Memorial Hospital of Carbondale: B

Northwestern Memorial Hospital: B

OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center: B

Rush University Medical Center: B

St. Margaret’s Hospital: B

Swedish Covenant Hospital: B

UnityPoint Health – Methodist: B

Advocate BroMenn Medical Center: C

Advocate Christ Medical Center: C

Advocate Condell Medical Center: C

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital: C

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital: C

Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center: C

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital: C

Advocate South Suburban Hospital: C

Advocate Trinity Hospital: C

Alton Memorial Hospital: C

AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Elgin: C

Community First Medical Center: C

Decatur Memorial Hospital: C

Franciscan St. James Health – Olympia Fields: C

Genesis Medical Center – Silvis: C

Graham Hospital: C

Herrin Hospital: C

Holy Cross Hospital: C

Ingalls Memorial Hospital: C

Jackson Park Hospital: C

McDonough District Hospital: C

Memorial Hospital Bellville: C

Memorial Hospital East: C

Memorial Medical Center: C

Mercy Hospital and Medical Center: C

Mercyhealth Hospital Rockton Ave: C

MetroSouth Medical Center: C

Norwegian American Hospital: C

OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center: C

Palos Community Hospital: C

Passavant Area Hospital: C

SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital – Mount Vernon: C

SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – Centralia: C

Swedish American Hospital: C

Trinity Moline: C

Trinity Rock Island: C

UnityPoint Health – Proctor: C

Vista Medical Center East: C

Weiss Memorial Hospital: C

John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital: D

Mt. Sinai Hospital: D

UnityPoint Health – Pekin: D

University of Illinois Hospital: D

Not in Illinois? Find your hospital’s safety grade here: https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/

Using this valuable resource can help you choose the safest hospital for your loved one, but it cannot prevent every medical error. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a hospital mistake, call our experienced medical malpractice attorneys at 630-527-1595 for a FREE EVALUATION of your case. Do not suffer in silence. We can help you recover compensation for your pain and injury.