Best Hospitals In Maryland — And Worst — For Patient Safety

BALTIMORE, MD — Three hospitals in Maryland received an “A” grade in a nationwide hospital safety analysis. The study evaluated institutions based on medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections, which collectively are the third leading cause of death in America.

Maryland was one of only 10 states with a hospital given an "F."

Although there was one failing grade on its "report card," the state has made marked improvements since last year, according to Leapfrog, the nonprofit watchdog that conducts the biannual analysis.

In fall 2017, Maryland had one "A" and one "F" hospital, a different hospital than the one with a failing grade for 2018. Last year was the first time Maryland was included in the rankings, which have been released since 2012; previously, Leapfrog said it was unable to obtain data at a national level because of a federal waiver that exempted Maryland from reporting key safety metrics.

“In looking at Maryland over the course of these six months, it’s clear there’s been an effort to improve since they were first graded in fall 2017,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, said in a statement. "Not only are there now three A hospitals, but six additional hospitals received a B grade, having previously received a C or lower.”

The Leapfrog Group's bi-yearly hospital safety grades released Tuesday show that Maryland health care systems are not alone; hospitals overall have improved in reducing the number of avoidable deaths.

The group assessed roughly 2,500 hospitals. Of those, 30 percent earned an A, 28 percent earned a B, 35 percent a C, 6 percent a D and 1 percent an F.

“The national numbers on death and harm in hospitals have alarmed us for decades. What we see in the new round of safety grades are signs of many hospitals making significant improvements in their patient safety record,” Binder said.

The group uses performance measures from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Then its assessment system assigns school-style letter grades to general acute-care hospitals.

The hope is to determine patients' risk of further injury or infection if they visit a certain hospital.

Here is the full list of hospital grades in Maryland:

A

• Howard County General Hospital, Columbia; A
• Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore; A
• Northwest Hospital, Randallstown; A

B

• Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis; B
• Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore; B
• MedStar St. Mary's Hospital, Leonardtown; B
• MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore; B
• Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore; B
• Suburban Hospital, Bethesda; B
• University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore; B
• University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Dorchester, Cambridge; B
• University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson; B
• Western Regional Medical Center, Cumberland; B

C

• Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, Rockville; C
• Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital, Takoma Park; C
• Calvert Memorial Hospital, Prince Frederick; C
• Carroll Hospital Center, Westminster; C
• Doctors Community Hospital, Lanham; C
• Frederick Memorial Hospital, Frederick; C
• Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore; C
• MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, Baltimore; C
• MedStar Harbor Hospital, Baltimore; C
• MedStar Montgomery Center, Olney; C
• Meritus Medical Center, Hagerstown; C
• Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Salisbury; C
• Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore; C
• St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore; C
• Union Hospital, Elkton; C
• University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Glen Burnie; C
• University of Maryland Charles Regional Center, La Plata; C
• University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital, Havre de Grace; C
• University of Maryland Shore Medical Center, Chestertown; C
• University of Maryland Shore Medical Center, Easton; C
• University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake, Bel Air; C

D

• Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring; D
• MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore; D
• MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Clinton; D
• University of Maryland Laurel Regional Hospital, Laurel; D
• University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus, Baltimore; D
• University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center, Cheverly; D

F

• Fort Washington Medical Center, Fort Washington; F

Among the findings nationally, five hospitals that received an A grade for the first time this year previously received an F grade, the group said, and 46 hospitals earned an A for the first time since the grading system began six years ago.

Leapfrog said its analysis showed 89 hospitals that had previously received D or F ratings had improved to an A this year.

Rhode Island, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Idaho all previously ranked near the bottom of the state rankings with low percentages of “A” hospitals, but now all rank in the top 10.

Here are some of the other findings:

• The five states with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals this spring are Hawaii, Idaho, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia.
• Ten states have hospitals with F grades are California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York.

Leapfrog says you shouldn’t refuse emergency care because of a bad safety grade. The grades are meant to be used as a guide for planned events and as a research tool for potential emergencies.

RELATED: Safest Hospitals In Maryland 2017 - FULL LIST

Patch reporters Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images