For Immediate Release May 15, 2019

For the second consecutive grading period, University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center has been awarded an ‘A’ in Patient Safety from The Leapfrog Group. This latest designation, earned according to the spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, follows the hospital’s previous Grade ‘A’, awarded this past fall. 

This recognition underscores UM St. Joseph’s vigilant and continuous work in protecting patients from harm and providing safe, quality health care. The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for healthcare consumers throughout the nation. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care. 

“We are honored to once again be recognized as a ‘Grade-A’ hospital by The Leapfrog Group,” says UM St. Joseph Medical Center President and CEO Thomas B. Smyth, MD. “This designation is a tribute to our unrelenting commitment to our patients and to the steadfast dedication of our entire staff. This recognition, combined with our designation as a CMS Five-Star hospital, puts us in an elite company of American hospitals. We are incredibly proud.” 

“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work 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.

UM St. Joseph Medical Center was awarded an ‘A’ grade today, when Leapfrog announced grades for the spring 2019 update. “This recognition is especially gratifying because it honors the worthwhile, ongoing work we do on behalf of our patients and their families,” says Dr. Smyth. “It shows our community that we are putting their health and safety first, with every patient care encounter and with every decision we make.” 

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To see UM SJMC’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org. 


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 collects and transparently reports hospital 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 UM St. Joseph Medical Center
UM St. Joseph Medical Center (UM SJMC), founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, is a 218-bed Catholic, not-for-profit regional medical center in Towson, Maryland.  A member of the 13-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, UM SJMC is located in suburban Baltimore County, and offers a wide range of superb clinical programs and centers of excellence, including the Cancer, Heart and Orthopaedic Institutes, Women and Children’s services and Emergency Medicine. Our mission: To provide loving service and compassionate, leading-edge care to all. For more information, visit www.umstjoseph.org.