When it comes to patient safety, the Iberia Medical Center is among the nation leaders.

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades did studies from 2022 on 11 major areas based on medical reporting and grades and the hospital received an A rating.

This is not the first time the Iberia Medical Center has received the A grade. The hospital also received top honors during difficult COVID years.

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades is widely accepted as the ‘gold standard’ for hospital patient safety in the healthcare industry, hospital officials said, as this prestigious national distinction continues to recognize Iberia Medical Center as among the top in the nation for patient safety.

This recognition celebrates hospital achievements in prioritizing patient safety at every level of the organization.

Those categories included:

• Preventing and Responding to Patient Harm

• Critical Care

• Healthcare-Associated Infections

• Maternity Care

• Medication Safety

• Pediatric Care

• Complex Adult and Pediatric Surgery

• Total Joint Replacement

• Elective Outpatient Surgery – Adult

• Elective Outpatient Surgery – Pediatric

• Care for Elective Outpatient Surgery Patients

Iberia Medical Center CEO Dionne Viator said she is proud they have maintained a high level of service, as only 25 percent of hospitals across the country earn this grade.

 “We are very proud to have sustained this high standard and will continue to work to provide access to high quality care for our community. Only 25 percent of the hospitals across the country receive an “A” from The Leapfrog Group, placing us in an elite group at the state and national level,” Viator said. “Nothing is more important to us than offering our patients trusted care in a safe environment.”

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over thirty national patient safety performance measures. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

“It’s very rewarding that our physicians and hospital staff are being recognized for their dedication to patient safety and quality by such a respected national organization,” Viator said. “I congratulate our team on this well-deserved achievement.”

Leapfrog does not just hand out grades. Even scores that have achieved “Better Than Average” have notes that explain what could be done for improvement.

Leapfrog officials said, “One of the most significant problems with today’s health care system is the failure to make safety and quality information available to the public. But the public deserves this information so they can make informed choices about where to receive care. The purpose of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is to bring this information to light in a way that is easy for you – the consumer – to use.”

The guide is almost a Consumer Reports on hospitals.

“Some people do more research on what car to buy than what hospital to go to for medical care. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade provides data and research to help you make informed decisions about a critical aspect of your hospital stay – safety,” Leapfrog officials said. “A hospital may have the best surgeons and greatest technology in the world, but unless it is preventing infections and eliminating errors, it is not delivering on a very basic premise: ensuring the safety of you and your loved ones. The goal of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is to reduce the over 200,000 yearly deaths from hospital errors and injuries by publicly recognizing safety and exposing harm.”

The scoring system allows the public to quickly assess the safety of any hospital in the nation.