Wayne UNC Health Care was awarded an “A” in the fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Wayne UNC’s achievement in providing the highest level of patient care. This is an improvement over the hospital’s grade of “B” over the past several years. An “A” grade has historically been earned by only the top 1/3 of the nation’s over 2,700 acute-care hospitals.

“We are very happy to achieve this next step in our continuing efforts to provide the highest quality of care to Wayne county,” said Dr. Jessie L. Tucker III, Wayne UNC Health Care President & CEO. “This designation is the acknowledgement of the years-long dedication and hard work of every member of our 98 departments in the hospital, as well as our exceptional physician teammates in our community. This is but one of several goals that we have and patient safety is our top priority. Our assistants, doctors, nurses, providers, specialists, technicians, and therapists, all had a hand in making this possible,” said Tucker. This achievement is particularly noteworthy given the significant challenges that the health system has faced during the pandemic.

The Leapfrog Group assigns a safety grade of “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” to general hospitals across the nation and is updated every 6 months. Based on the hospital’s efforts to protect patients from errors, infections, injuries, accidents and other patient harm, 27 measures were used to create Wayne UNC’s safety grade.

Developed with guidance from an interdisciplinary panel of clinical experts, the Leapfrog group is a national non-profit organization founded in 2000 by large employers and other care purchasers. It assesses the quality and safety of hospitals across the country based on available health data.

To see the full grade details, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.