by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Mary Washington Hospital received a grade of ‘D’ in Leapfrog Group’s spring 2024 hospital safety ratings, which were released this week.
It is the only hospital out of 72 in Virginia to receive a grade of ‘D’ from the independent, nonprofit watchdog group.
The safety grades are updated twice each year, in the fall and the spring, and are based on “rates of preventable errors, injuries and infections, and whether hospitals have systems in place to prevent them,” according to Leapfrog’s website.
Mary Washington Hospital is performing worse than other hospitals in its rates of MRSA infections, sepsis infection after surgery, and surgical site infection after colon surgery, according to the safety grade.
It also has higher than average rates of problems with surgery, including death from serious treatable complications and higher rates of “harmful events” following surgery or childbirth.
The hospital is also performing below average in terms of its handwashing practices; communication with patients regarding medicines and discharge instructions; and how well staff work together to prevent errors.
Also, according to the Leapfrog rating, the hospital’s leadership doesn’t put a high enough priority on fostering a culture of safety, at least according to how other hospitals perform.
In the Fredericksburg area, Stafford Hospital, which is also owned by Mary Washington Healthcare, received a ‘B’ safety rating, and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center received a ‘C.’
The nearest ‘A’-rated hospitals to Fredericksburg are UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center, the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center in La Plata, and UVA Prince William Medical Center in Manassas.
Statewide, 40 hospitals received an ‘A’ rating, 18 earned a ‘B,’ and 12 earned a ‘C.’
Mary Washington Hospital earned the only ‘D’ and there were no ‘F’ rated hospitals.
Emily Thurston, a spokeswoman for Mary Washington Hospital, said in a statement that “External assessments, such as Leapfrog, provide us the continued opportunity to improve and enhance the clinical services we provide.”
“In response to the Leapfrog report and our own ongoing internal quality efforts, we are focusing our attention on survey compliance and documentation and have worked to enhance our reporting processes to better capture the application of these important initiatives,” Thurston wrote in an email to the Advance.
She also noted that “there are many indicators of quality in hospitals and Mary Washington Hospital is proud to have many significant, recent healthcare quality achievements.”
These include receiving the highest rating in the state for its transcatheter aortic valve replacement surgery program in 2023, earning recognition as a Gold Plus Stroke Center from the American Heart Association since 2018, and earning the Quality Partner designation from the American College of Surgeons for its trauma program in 2023.
“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,” Thurston wrote.
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Oh, this is quite scary.
In Leapfrog's report "Problems with Surgery" "Death from treatable serious complications" Mary Washington has one of the worst grades in the entire country.
This Hospital's Score: 215.85
Best Hospital's Score: 86.68
Average Hospital's Score: 168.38
Worst Hospital's Score: 222.70
This is consistent with our own experiences. Our first child was born via cesarean at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and our second was born at Mary Washington in Fredericksburg also by cesarean. Comparing those experiences I observed a huge difference in process and how each hospital dealt with complications that nursing staff identified or were self-reported by the patient.
We had post-surgery complications with the 2nd birth in FXBG and I couldn't believe the cavalier response when we reported something was wrong. I continued to advocate on my wife's behalf but got nowhere. From a patient-outcome perspective I expected a much different response, heck from a corporate risk perspective I'd expect something much different. I told my wife that from the sidelines it felt like "cowboy" medicine.
And Handwashing should be table-stakes. We figured that out 130 years ago thanks to Dr Joseph Lister.
This Hospital's Score: 40
Best Hospital's Score: 100
Average Hospital's Score: 78.65
Worst Hospital's Score: 15