Texas Border Business
South Texas Health System’s two largest acute care hospitals, South Texas Health System McAllen and South Texas Health System Edinburg, have earned their fifth ‘A’ grade in a row for hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization and advocate for hospital transparency.
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades are assigned by the well-respected nonprofit organization to more than 2,600 general acute care hospitals across the nation and are considered “the gold standard of patient safety.” South Texas Health System McAllen and South Texas Health System Edinburg’s ‘A’ grades, awarded for Fall 2020 to only four hospitals in the entire Rio Grande Valley, are the highest marks that can be bestowed upon a facility for protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare.
“This great achievement — five A’s in a row — can only happen when the entire staff is dedicated to a shared vision… providing exceptional, safe healthcare every day, even while facing a global pandemic,” says Todd Mann, CEO of South Texas Health System McAllen. “To earn this fifth A in a row, especially during these challenging times we’re facing, is the direct result of the dedication and hard work of our STHS McAllen team who aim to provide superior quality healthcare services every day.”
Developed under the direction of a national panel of experts, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to acute care hospitals twice per year. The methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public. After measurements of medical-error prevention, injuries, accidents, infections and other patient safety issues are analyzed, each hospital is given an A, B, C, D or F grade.
“We’re honored to have earned this ‘A’ grade from Leapfrog yet again. It’s a true testament to the high quality compassionate care and unwavering dedication of those who work for STHS Edinburg. Even though COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the healthcare industry, we continue to strive to put patient safety first,” says Lance Ames, CEO of South Texas Health System Edinburg. “As patients consider undergoing medical treatments, they pay close attention to a hospital’s safety and quality record. With this national designation, patients can be confident that the care we provide is among the safest in Hidalgo County.”
