Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Cedar Crest, Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Muhlenberg, Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Hazleton and Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Pocono each was awarded an ‘A’ grade on the Hospital Safety Grade report from The Leapfrog Group for fall 2019.

The national ratings, released Thursday, reflect how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries, infections and other harms. The safety score is designed to give the public information that is useful for choosing a hospital for care. This is the eighth straight time LVH-Pocono in East Stroudsburg has received an ‘A’ grade and the fifth straight ‘A’ for LVH-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

“It takes genuine commitment at every level – from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors – and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 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.

“When you have to come to the hospital for any reason, you expect to get the best care and you also should expect to receive that care in a safe environment,” said Brian Nester, DO, MBA, FACOEP, LVHN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Your safety is a priority for all of us at LVHN and these ‘A’ grades from Leapfrog are a reflection of the skilled people—physicians, nurses and many, many others— who take pride in ensuring your safety and providing that care throughout our health network every day.”

Full grade details and patient tips for staying safe in the hospital are available at hospitalsafetygrade.org and by following The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.