BREMERTON — Harrison Medical Center, part of CHI Franciscan Health, has earned its fourth consecutive ‘A’ grade for patient safety in the Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score. The rating indicates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections.

The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard for rating patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, nonprofit hospital safety watchdog.

This ‘A’ grade is one of the most meaningful honors a hospital can achieve, and one of the most valuable indicators for patients looking for a safe place to receive care. The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the score is designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

“Harrison has a longstanding track record of providing the safest and highest quality care for our patients and this fourth consecutive ‘A’ rating directly reflects that,” said David Schultz, market president for the peninsula region.

“Harrison’s ‘A’ grade is a powerful reminder of its commitment to putting patient safety above all else, and we are pleased to recognize the persistent efforts of your clinicians and staff to protect your patients,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, which administers the Hospital Safety Score. “Our families, neighbors, colleagues and friends deserve a hospital that will pull out all the stops to keep them safe, and we urge Harrison and all other ‘A’ hospitals to preserve and renew your commitment to safety year after year.”

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in October 2015, with 773 hospitals receiving an A grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, offering a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades on the website. Patients can also review their hospital’s past safety performance alongside its current grade on the Hospital Safety Score site, allowing them to determine which local hospitals have the best track record in patient safety and which have demonstrated consistent improvement.

To see Harrison Medical Center’s full score, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

— Edited By Chris Tucker