COVINGTON, Ga. — Piedmont Newton Hospital was awarded an “A” in fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Piedmont Newton’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. 

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. 

Six of Piedmont Healthcare’s 11 hospitals received “A” grades in The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grade, making it the safest health care system in Georgia with more “A” grades than any other health care system in the state.

“It is exciting to be recognized nationally with an ‘A’ for the third time in a row,” Dr. Eric Bour, CEO of Piedmont Newton Hospital, said. “It demonstrates our daily commitment to patient safety and our promise to make a positive difference in every life we touch.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. 

The Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership is protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes genuine commitment at  every level — from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors — and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.”

Piedmont Newton was awarded an “A” grade Thursday, when Leapfrog announced grades for the fall 2019 update. 

To see Newton’s full grade details, learn how employers can help, and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.

To learn more about Piedmont Newton Hospital, visit www.piedmont.org/newton.