Colquitt Regional Medical Center was awarded its 12th consecutive ‘A’ when The Leapfrog Group announced the spring 2020 Hospital Safety Grades. Receiving an ‘A’ signifies that Colquitt Regional has achieved the highest national standards in patient safety.
The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections, and other harms to patients in their care.
According to The Leapfrog Group, of the hospitals surveyed in Georgia, Colquitt Regional was among the 25 percent that earned an ‘A’ grade, followed by 32 percent that received a ‘B’, 36 percent that earned a ‘C,’ and five percent that received a ‘D’.
“Patient safety continues to be at the forefront of our thinking and decision making,” said Colquitt Regional President and CEO Jim Matney. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges for everyone, especially the healthcare industry. As we continue to move through the pandemic and return to a new normal, we are committed to taking the precautionary measures necessary to continue providing our patients with safe, exceptional care.”
Nurses currently use Lippincott, the most up-to-date, evidence-based care procedures to ensure patient safety is at the heart of every interaction. There have also been in-house initiatives introduced to promote awareness and/or prevention of common harms and illnesses such as falls, sepsis, and strokes, among others.
In an effort to gain feedback that is used to further enhance the safety of all patients, Colquitt Regional encourages all patients and families to be active participants during their visit through bedside shift reporting.
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
Among the 28 measures used to evaluate each hospital, Colquitt Regional earned a perfect score in the following categories: handwashing, effective leadership to prevent errors, staff working together to prevent errors, tracking and reducing risks to patients, doctors ordering medications through a computer, enough qualified nurses, infection in the blood, air or gas bubble in the blood, and surgical site infection after colon surgery.
Colquitt Regional also scored 90 percent or higher in the categories of communication about medicines (90 percent), communication about discharge (92 percent), communication with nurses (94 percent), communication with doctors (94 percent), and responsiveness of hospital staff (95 percent).
“As the nation copes with a challenging pandemic, our gratitude extends to hospital leadership and health care workers everywhere for their tremendous dedication,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We hope this ‘A’ helps to thank the people who work and volunteer for Colquitt Regional. They are role models in putting patients first, and their service has been extraordinary in our country’s time of need.”
It was announced that Colquitt Regional was awarded its ‘A’ grade on May 3, when Leapfrog announced grades for the spring 2020 update. To see Colquitt Regional’s full grade details and to view the scores of other hospitals in the region, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
“Colquitt Regional is very fortunate to have a staff that is dedicated to providing safe patient care,” said Hospital Authority Chairman Maureen A. Yearta, Ed.D. “Even in the middle of a global pandemic, our staff has selflessly served the people in our community and continues to put the safety of others above their own.”
Colquitt Regional is a 99-bed teaching hospital located in Moultrie, Georgia. With over 90 providers, more than 30 specialties and 1,350 employees, Colquitt Regional is committed to providing exceptional healthcare that exceeds expectations for Colquitt County and the surrounding areas.
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