VCU Health at Tappahannock Hospital received another “A” grade, the highest possible grade, when The Leapfrog Group announced its spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade earlier today. This national designation recognizes a hospital’s efforts in protecting patients from preventable harm. This is the fourth consecutive “A” grade safety rating for VCU Health at Tappahannock Hospital.

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety. It assigns safety grades to hospitals across the nation twice annually in the spring and fall. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our patients, and we go to great lengths to earn their trust and ensure they are protected at every stage of their care journey,” said Liz Martin, VCU Health at Tappahannock Hospital CEO. “This award is also a testament to how we continued to serve the residents of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula during a global pandemic and that we can overcome any obstacle. As we have joined the VCU Health family, our communities can continue to rely on receiving excellent care locally while also having access to more specialized services of an acclaimed academic medical center.”

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 acute-care hospitals nationwide.

“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but VCU Health at Tappahannock Hospital shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”

The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public. To see VCU Health at Tappahannock Hospital’s full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.