UNC Lenoir Health Care Nationally Recognized with an ‘A’ for the Spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
UNC Lenoir Health Care received an “A” grade in the Spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing UNC Lenoir’s achievements protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is the only hospital rating program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care.
“As a trusted member of this community, UNC Lenoir Health Care strives for greater excellence each day in patient safety and our team works diligently to maintain our “A” rating,” said Robert Enders, president and CEO at UNC Lenoir.
“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but UNC Lenoir Health Care shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”
Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.
About UNC Lenoir Health Care
UNC Lenoir, licensed for 199 beds, is a nonprofit organization serving the Lenoir County area with acute, outpatient, and community health services. The hospital has a 114-year history of providing excellent care to the community. In addition to general medical, surgical, and obstetrical and gynecological care, UNC Lenoir offers specialized services including cardiology, pulmonology, oncology, radiology, and urology. Surgical specialties include general, orthopedic, and bariatric with a staff trained to take special care during recovery. UNC Lenoir affiliated with the UNC Health Care System in 2017. UNC Health is an integrated health care system based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is comprised of UNC Hospitals and its provider network, UNC Faculty Physicians and UNC Physicians Network.
