COVINGTON – For the 19th consecutive grading period, St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital has earned an “A” grade for patient safety for spring 2025 from the Leapfrog Group, an independent healthcare watchdog organization.
The recognition extends St. Tammany’s streak, which began in 2016, to nine and a half years. No other Louisiana hospital or health system has received as many consecutive A’s.
“At St. Tammany Health System, we talk a lot about patient safety, but it is much more than just talk. It is at the core of everything we do. This unprecedented streak of sustained excellence, spanning almost a full decade, clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our established Culture of Caring,” St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan Coffman said. “Given that this honor could not have been possible without the diligent efforts of every member of our team, it is on their behalf that I proudly accept and acknowledge it with both gratitude and humility.”
Developed under the guidance of a national panel of experts and in place since 2012, the Leapfrog letter grade program uses up to 22 evidence-based measures of patient safety to assign letter grades of A, B, C, D and F to more than 3,000 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice a year.
Those grades are based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. They stand as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
“Achieving an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade reflects enormous dedication to patient safety,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I extend my congratulations to St. Tammany Parish Hospital, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for creating a culture where patients come first.”
To see more details on St. Tammany Health System’s Leapfrog performance, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.
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