DURANGO – Mercy Regional Medical Center has been recognized for its dedication to patient safety by being awarded an “A” grade in the Spring 2015 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries and infections acquired within the hospital. Mercy’s “A” grade is a valuable indicator for patients looking for a safe place to receive care.

“Building on our past record of safety, we embarked last year on our journey to become a High Reliability Organization, where safety is a core value,” said Bill Plauth, M.D., Mercy’s chief medical officer. “To achieve this, it takes everyone—physicians, allied health professionals, nurses, staff, operations and senior leaders—to create a culture where evidence-based practices are adopted, patient-centered care is the focus, and error prevention strategies become practice habits performed as intended, consistently over time.”

“Mercy’s ‘A’ grade validates its achievement in preventing harm within the hospital, and we are proud to recognize the efforts of the care providers and staff,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “Patient safety requires constant vigilance, and we encourage Mercy and all other ‘A’ hospitals to continue demonstrating unrelenting commitment to patients by consistently providing a safe environment for care.”

Hospital Safety Scores are released in the spring and fall of each year. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in April 2015, with about 31 percent receiving an “A” grade. All five of Mercy’s previous Hospital Safety Scores—since fall of 2012—have been “A’s.”

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering on the Hospital Safety Score website a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades. The hospital safety rating is peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety and the score is free to the public.

To see how Mercy’s score compares locally and nationally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.