Does Your Hospital Make the Grade?

When a person becomes injured or suffers an illness, they are putting their trust in the medical facility treating them. Unfortunately, as borne out by the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed each year, that is not always the case. As a way to help provide patients with a resource to determine which medical facilities in their area have potentially dangerous issues, the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety publishes a Hospital Safety Guide that grades thousands of hospitals across the country. The guide is published twice a year.

The categories that each facility is graded on are:

• Infections
• Problems with surgery
• Practices to prevent errors
• Safety problems
• Doctors, nurses, and hospital staff

The grades are all peer-reviewed and compiled by a panel of safety experts using national performance measures and surveys. The grade the facility receives represents its overall performance and its ability to keep patients from exposure to medical errors and preventable injuries. The panel uses a grading system of A, B, C, D, or F.

Preventable hospital errors are one of the leading causes of death in this country, killing anywhere from 160,000 to 400,000 victims each year (depending on the study). According to the publishers of this guide, a patient who is treated at a facility that has a D or F rating has a 92 percent higher risk of dying from a safety issue than a patient who is treated at a hospital with an A rating.

The following list is how Virginia’s hospitals were graded for the spring publication:

Grade A

• Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital
• Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center
• Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital of Richmond
• CJW Medical Center – Chippenham Campus
• CJW Medical Center – Johnston-Willis Campus
• Clinch Valley Medical Center
• Fauquier Hospital
• Henrico Doctors’ Hospital
• Inova Alexandria Hospital
• Inova Fair Oaks Hospital
• Inova Fairfax Hospital
• Inova Loudoun Hospital
• Inova Mount Vernon Hospital
• Lewis Gale Hospital – Alleghany
• Lewis Gale Hospital – Montgomery
• Lewis Gale Hospital – Pulaski
• Lewis Gale Medical Center
• Norton Community Hospital
• Novant Health UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center
• Novant Health UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center
• Parham Doctors’ Hospital
• Reston Hospital Center
• Retreat Doctors’ Hospital
• Riverside Tappahannock Hospital
• Riverside Walter Reed Hospital
• Sentara CarePlex Hospital
• Sentara Leigh Hospital
• Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital
• Sentara Obici Hospital
• Sentara Princess Anne Hospital
• Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
• Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
• Virginia Hospital Center–Arlington Health System
• Winchester Medical Center
• Wythe County Community Hospital

Grade B

• Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center
• Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center
• Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
• Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
• Danville Regional Medical Center
• John Randolph Medical Center
• Lonesome Pine Hospital
• Mountain View Regional Hospital
• Novant Health UVA Health System Culpeper Medical Center
• Riverside Regional Medical Center
• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital
• Sentara RMH Medical Center
• Southside Regional Medical Center
• Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
• Stafford Hospital
• Twin County Regional Healthcare
• University of Virginia Medical Center

Grade C

• Augusta Health
• Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
• Johnston Memorial Hospital
• Mary Washington Hospital
• Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg
• Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital
• Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center
• Sovah Health Martinsville
• Stone Springs Hospital Center
• VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital
• VCU Medical Center Main Hospital
• Warren Memorial Hospital

Grade D

• Centra Lynchburg General Hospital
• Centra Southside Community Hospital
• Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital

 Contact Shapiro, Appleton & Washburn for Help

If you or a family member has suffered serious illness due to hospital negligence, contact a seasoned Virginia medical malpractice attorney to discuss what legal options you may have. The attorneys at our personal injury firm understand how devastating medical errors like these can be to a family, not only emotionally, but also financially. We have successfully represented many clients in obtaining the financial compensation they deserved and will aggressively advocate for you and your family.

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