Among hospitals in region, NEA Baptist ranks first in study

Only hospital in NEA to receive an “A”

JONESBORO, Ark. – A new study released by a non-profit organization grading quality in the U.S. health system ranks NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital as the top health provider in the area and the only hospital in Jonesboro or Paragould to receive an “A” rating for Fall, 2017.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade national study, released Monday, grades hospitals on their overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors. The grades are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data using 27 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety. Scores are divided into several categories, from infections, to problems with surgery, practices to prevent errors, safety problems and personnel. 

NEA Baptist scored the highest marks in the unbiased study, receiving an “A” for the Fall, 2017 reporting period. It was the only hospital in Northeast Arkansas to receive this grade.

St. Bernard’s Medical Center in Jonesboro and Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould both scored a C” grade, the most common score for hospitals of the 2,632 graded.

To see all hospitals within a 200 mile radius of Jonesboro, click here. 

Other scores:

• White River Medical Center in Batesville received a “B”
• Regional One Health in Memphis received a “D”
• Unity Health White County Medical Center in Searcy received a “B”
• Reports were not available for Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Walnut Ridge or Five Rivers Medical Center in Pocahontas.

Arkansas, overall, ranked 41 in health care quality out of 50 states.

To better understand these grades, the below video may be of use.

Additional findings include:

• Of the 2,632 hospitals graded in Monday’s update, 832 earned an “A,” 662 a “B,” 964 a “C,” 159 a “D” and 15 an “F”
• Hospitals with “F” grades are located in California, Washington D.C., Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New York and Tennessee
• Impressively, 59 hospitals nationwide have achieved an “A” in every scoring update since the launch of the Safety Grade in Spring 2012
• The five states with the highest percentage of “A” hospitals this fall are Rhode Island, Maine, Hawaii, Idaho and Virginia
• The five states with the lowest percentage of “A” hospitals this fall are North Dakota, Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland and New York

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is a public service provided by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization committed to driving quality, safety, and transparency in the U.S. health system. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is becoming the gold standard measure of patient safety, cited in MSNBC, The New York Times, and AARP The Magazine.

The Safety Grade is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. It is updated every six months, once in the Fall and once in the Spring. For more information about the Safety Grade, as well as individual hospital grades and state rankings, please visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook.

Stan Morris Reporting