Though most held steady, a total of five hospitals in San Diego gained or lost a grade in the latest safety report from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that grades medical provider performance nationwide each spring and fall.
In the fall tabulation, both hospitals operated by Palomar Health had reason to celebrate. Palomar Medical Center Escondido and its sister facility in Poway both saw their Leapfrog safety grades increase from B’s to A’s.
Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego and Sharp Coronado Hospital and Healthcare Center both experienced the reverse of that trend, falling from A’s to B’s.
Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, recently purchased by UC San Diego Health, fell from a B to a C.
Overall, the region had a better-than-average showing. According to Leapfrog, nearly 30 percent of hospitals nationwide earn A’s, compared with 77 percent in San Diego County. Likewise, 7 percent nationwide were said to earn D‘s and less than 1 percent F’s, but no facility in the region fell so far.
Leapfrog graded nearly 3,000 hospitals and medical centers operating in the United States, examining results for a range of potential problems, including medical errors, accidents and infections.
Overall, report results, which now take into account performance after the COVID-19 pandemic, found decreases in several types of hospital-acquired infections that became more prevalent in 2020 and early 2021.
Hospitals that did not see their grades change include:
- Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center, A
- Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center, A
- Paradise Valley Hospital, A
- Scripps Green Hospital, A
- Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, A
- Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, A
- Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista, A
- Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, A
- Sharp Grossmont Hospital, A
- Sharp Memorial Hospital, A
- Tri-City Medical Center, C
- UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center, A
- UC San Diego Medical Center, A
