Leapfrog Group Releases Fall Safety Ratings: B for Stafford Hospital, C for Spotsylvania
Mary Washington Hospital was not rated for the second cycle in a row.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Stafford Hospital has received a B and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center a C in the Leapfrog Group’s fall hospital safety grades, which were released earlier this month.
The other hospital in the Fredericksburg area, Mary Washington Hospital—which, like Stafford Hospital, is under the umbrella of Mary Washington Healthcare—did not receive a grade this fall and does not show up in a search of hospitals within a 50-mile radius of the 22401 zip code.
Leapfrog assigns a safety grade of A through F to hospitals across the country twice annually, in the fall and the spring, using patient safety measures such rates of preventable errors, injuries and infections, and whether hospitals have systems in place to prevent them. According to the frequently-asked questions page of Leapfrog’s website, most of the data used to calculate the rating comes from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some of the data is also provided voluntarily by hospitals as part of the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
According to Leapfrog, Mary Washington Hospital was not eligible to receive a fall safety grade for the same reason it did not receive a spring 2025 safety grade—because it is missing data for patient safety indicator (PSI) 90.
PSI 90 is a composite of 10 other safety indicators, including rates of postoperative sepsis; postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma; postoperative respiratory failure; in-hospital falls with hip fractures; and others. It is calculated using Medicare fee-for-service claims.
Mary Washington Hospital performed “worse than average” on PSI 90, according to claims data compiled between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2023, and available on the CMS website.
Alexandra Campione, program manager of the safety grade program at Leapfrog, said in an email to the Advance that the hospital has reported a discrepancy in this claims data.
“The hospital had the option to request that the data be used despite the footnote, but they did not,” Campione said.
The hospital received a C rating in fall 2024 and a D in spring 2024.
Stafford Hospital received an A safety rating in the spring of 2025 and the fall of 2024.
Mary Washington Healthcare said in a statement provided to the Advance* that, “We are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality care and we value the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade as an important national benchmark for patient safety.”
“Stafford Hospital’s rating reflects strong performance across many safety measures and places us within the top tier of hospitals nationwide,” the statement continued. “We are devoted to continuous improvement and we are proud of our dedicated clinical teams, whose work drives safe, high-quality care for every patient we serve.”
“Mary Washington Hospital was not graded this period. Caring for the Fredericksburg community is a great honor and we remain grateful for the continued opportunity to advance our mission of improving the health of the people in the communities we serve.”
Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center has consistently received a C safety rating since the fall of 2022.
According to this fall’s safety ratings, Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center is performing worse than average in preventing antibiotic-resistant MRSA infections. MRSA “can be found in bed linens or medical equipment and can be spread if providers do not properly wash their hands between patients,” according to Leapfrog.
Spotsylvania’s score of 2.685 for this indicator is the same as the worst hospital’s score, according to Leapfrog. A number lower than one means fewer MRSA infections than expected; a number more than one means more infections than expected.
The average hospital’s score for this indicator is 0.689 and the best hospital’s score is 0.000.
Other areas in which Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center is performing worse than average include accidental cuts and tears during surgery; patient falls and injuries; communication about medicines and discharge instructions; nursing and bedside care; responsiveness of hospital staff; and effective leadership.
The hospital performs better than average in terms of rates of C.diff infections; urinary tract infections; serious breathing problems after surgery; dangerous blood clots; handwashing; and safe medication administration.
Stafford Hospital scored better than average in terms of C.diff and surgical site infections after colon surgery; serious breathing problems or objects left in the patient’s body after surgery; dangerous bed sores; harmful events post surgery or childbirth; hand-washing; safe medication administration; nursing and bedside care; and specially-trained doctors caring for Intensive Care Unit patients.
Stafford Hospital scored worse than the average hospital for effective leadership; responsiveness of staff; procedure resulting in a collapsed lung; patient falls and injuries; surgical wounds splitting open; accidental tears and cuts; and sepsis infection after surgery.
There was not enough data available for Leapfrog to assign a score to Stafford Hospital for rates of MRSA infections, blood infections, or infections of the urinary tract.
Leapfrog assigned scores to 71 hospitals in Virginia this fall. Thirty-eight hospitals received A ratings, and 18 of those received “straight-As” for consistent A ratings since 2022.
The closest A-rated hospital to Fredericksburg is Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge.
A straight-A hospital, UVA Prince William Medical Center, is located in Manassas.
*Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 7:26 a.m. on November 26, to include a statement from Mary Washington Healthcare that came in after our publication deadline.
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