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CentraState Medical Center received a safety grade of C from a watchdog group, lagging behind other Monmouth and Ocean hospitals. But its chief executive said it has rectified the problem and is catching up with the pack.
The Freehold Township hospital stood out in an otherwise rosy report by the Leapfrog Group examining hospital safety measures. Of the eight other Monmouth and Ocean County hospitals, six received an A and two received a B. The Shore's overall hospital GPA: 3.56, an improvement from last fall's GPA of 3.3.
The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of big employers and other health care purchasers. It publishes grades of hospitals nationwide twice a year, taking data from 23 categories, including physician staffing levels, the clarity of instructions from doctors and nurses and infection rates, all in hopes of improving care and driving down the cost.
The grades are publicly available, giving patients a tool to decide where to get care.
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New Jersey made a marked improvement from last fall. Some 81% of the state's 67 acute care hospitals this spring received an A or a B, up from 76%. The Garden State ranked third nationwide in the number of hospitals with an A grade, compared with 13th last fall.
“The number of A and B hospitals highlights that we are, overall, doing well as a state,” said Adelisa Perez-Hudgins, director of quality for the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, which has partnered with the Leapfrog Group. “The percentage speaks to the dedication of hospitals and health care teams that focus on patient safety and quality improvement.”
Among the hospitals moving from a B to an A: Hackensack Meridian Health's Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel and RWJBarnabas Health's Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.
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CentraState has received a C for at least five consecutive grading periods. Tom Scott, the hospital's president and chief executive officer, said it has been penalized for a high level of pressure injures such as bed sores, a category that carries extra weight in the Leapfrog rankings.
The hospital has made a concerted effort to prevent and treat pressure ulcers through a program that is paying off; the rate has fallen from 4.12 for every 1,000 discharges in 2019 to 0 in 2023, according to data CentraState shared with the Asbury Park Press.
But the Leapfrog Group's grades come from older data, Scott said.
"Our hope is in subsequent (grading) cycles, it will finally catch up," he said.
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How did your hospital fare? Here is a look:
Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: B
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CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township
Spring 2024: C
Fall 2023: C
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Community Medical Center, Toms River
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: A
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Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: A
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Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: B
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Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, Lakewood
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: A
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Ocean University Medical Center, Brick
Spring 2024: A
Fall 2023: A
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Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank
Spring 2024: B
Fall 2023: B
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Southern Ocean Medical Center, Stafford
Spring 2024: B
Fall 2023: B
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Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth, Ocean County hospital safety rankings
