MMC Earns Two 2020 Leapfrog Awards Top Hospital Award for Outstanding Quality and Safety Nationally Recognized with an 'A' for the Fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

Meadville, PA., Meadville Medical Center (MMC) was named a Top Rural Hospital nationally by The Leapfrog Group. MMC was also awarded an 'A' in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing MMC's achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive. The Top Hospital designation is bestowed by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers widely acknowledged as the toughest standard-setters for health care saftey and quality. The 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 based on a hospital's performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measurers 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 tranparent, and the results are free to the public.

"We are extremely pleased to have achieved the Top Hospital Award and Safety Grade "A" for the highest quality and safety scores in our region," noted Philip Pandolph, MMC President and CEO. Our dedicated leadership and staff work diligently every day to place every patient and family first. We are deeply committed to ensuring the best care for our community."

Over 2.200 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, MMC received a Top Rural distinction. A total of 105 hospitals were selected at Top Hospitals, including:

• 9 Top Children's Hospitals

• 29 Top General Hospitals

• 19 Top Rural Hospitals

• 48 ​Top Teaching Hospitals

The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and the hospital's capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year's Top Hospital Methodology.

"Being recognized as a Top Hospital is an extraordinary feat and we are honored to recognize Meadville Medical Center this year," said Leah Binder, President and CEO of the Leapfrog Group. "Despite the extraordinary pressure and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, MMC has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to patients and to the Crawford County community. We congratulate the board, staff and clinicians whose efforts made this honor possible."

To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in its category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2020 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

MMC was awarded an 'A' grade when Leapfrog updated grades for fall 2020. To see MMC's full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.

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.