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Contact: John Broom

Ashtabula County Medical Center was awarded an ‘A’ in the spring 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Gradea national distinction recognizing ACMC’s achievements providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade is a letter grade assigned to all general hospitals across the country and updated every six months, assessing how well the hospital prevents medical errors and other harms to patients.

“This is the third consecutive ‘A’ rating that ACMC has received from The Leapfrog Group for patient safety. Receiving the 'A' once is an honor. To receive it for two consecutive ratings periods validates the hospital’s dedication to patient safety. Receiving it three times in a row is proof that a culture of safety drives every level of care at ACMC,” said ACMC Healthcare System President and CEO Michael Habowski.

The Leapfrog Group identifies a difference between patient safety and quality. Safety focuses on preventing harm and avoiding bad outcomes, while quality focuses on the efficiency, effectiveness, or purposefulness of the care received. Safety makes it less likely that mistakes can occur. Put another way, quality is often subjective, whereas safety is measurable and can be quantified. That difference makes ratings by independent companies like The Leapfrog Group so valuable to patients when they are deciding where to go for care.

Habowski said, “Hospitals should focus on a quality experience for patients, but never at the expense of patient safety. Like other top hospitals in the nation, our care teams continually review protocols, incorporate new best practices, and implement changes when needed to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment for our patients.”

“As the Nation copes with a challenging pandemic, our gratitude extends to hospital leadership and health care workers everywhere for their tremendous dedication,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We hope this ‘A’ helps to thank the people who work and volunteer ACMC. They are role models in putting patients first, and their service has been extraordinary in our country’s time of need.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 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.

To see ACMC’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.

About ACMC

ACMC is an acute-care hospital with 249 licensed beds and the largest medical center in Ashtabula County. It has been delivering patient care for more than a century. ACMC is affiliated with Cleveland Clinic. The ACMC Healthcare System includes Ashtabula County Medical Center, The Ashtabula Clinic, The ACMC Foundation, ACMC Regional Home Health Services, Glenbeigh, and Community Care Ambulance Network (CCAN). The Ashtabula County Medical Center web site is www.acmchealth.org.