Virginia ranked second in the Fall 2024 Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade state rankings for patient safety in hospitals, marking the fifth consecutive time the commonwealth ranked second overall.
The Leapfrog Group survey, which is released bi-annually, ranks states based on the share of hospitals that earn “A” grades based on patient safety.
In Virginia, 39 of 69 (57.7 percent) of the hospitals graded in the survey earned top marks in the 2024 Fall evaluation period – a 1.4 percent increase from this year’s Spring evaluation period which saw 40 of 72 Virginia hospitals earn “A” grades.
Utah ranked first in the survey, as 60.7 percent of its graded hospitals earned “A” grades during the Fall 2024 evaluation period.
Virginia has consistently led the nation in the Leapfrog Group’s survey as the state has ranked second overall in the Spring 2024 rankings, the Fall 2023 rankings, the Fall 2022 rankings, and the Spring 2022 rankings.
Prior to 2022, the state ranked first overall in the Fall 2021 rankings, fourth in Spring 2021, sixth in Fall 2020, third in Fall 2019, second in Spring 2019, third in Fall 2018, and fifth in Spring 2018.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA), an alliance of 111 hospitals and 26 health delivery systems that “develops and advocates for sound health care policy” in the commonwealth, applauded the state’s second-place rating in the Fall 2024 Leapfrog Group survey.
“The latest Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade rankings affirm that hospitals and health systems across the Commonwealth are champions for patient safety,” VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton said in a statement.
“Virginia is home to many top performing hospitals, including three that have claimed straight ‘A’ grades since 2012, which is a significant accomplishment as only 12 hospitals nationwide have earned that distinction,” Connaughton added.
For a full list of hospitals in Virginia that were graded for patient safety, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.