Fort Payne, Alabama – November 6, 2023—DeKalb Regional Medical Center earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit movement for patient safety. Leapfrog’s fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grades assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to nearly 3,000 general hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries, and infections.
“I could not be prouder of our dedicated physicians, nurses, and staff who focus on improving the patient experience every day,” said Darrell Blaylock, CEO of DeKalb Regional Medical Center. “Our care teams have worked diligently to prevent medical errors, accidents, and infections, and we are honored to be recognized by Leapfrog for these efforts.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program exclusively based on hospital prevention of medical errors, infections, and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually in the fall and spring.
“Earning an ‘A’ Grade means DeKalb Regional Medical Center made a true commitment to put patients first,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff, and volunteers that all had a role to play in this achievement.”
To see DeKalb Regional’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook, and its newsletter.
DeKalb Regional is a 134-bed hospital that has been providing medical and surgical services to people in and around northeast Alabama for 37 years. With 538 employees and more than 125 affiliated physicians and providers, its impact on improving health and quality of life is profound for DeKalb County. DeKalb Regional also affiliates with primary and specialty care physician practices, including family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, sports medicine, sleep medicine, and interventional cardiology. Most recently, DeKalb Regional received the American Heart Association’s Get with The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award for its efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities. The hospital is also an American College of Cardiology accredited Chest Pain Center.