2 Charlotte County hospitals receive near-failing grades

Several Charlotte County hospitals received low ranking grades.

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization that grades hospitals nationwide, gave Bayfront Health locations in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte a “D” grade.

Fawcett Memorial Hospital received a “C,” a grade lower than the “B” in 2017, according to results from the Leap Frog Group.

Fawcett Memorial Hospital officials said they’re disappointed with the grade, but are “confident that our performance metrics have improved since the data period that these scores were tabulated.”

When asked about the rankings, Port Charlotte resident Victoria Durandis said she wasn’t surprised.

“Well first and foremost I’m not shocked at all, just because the service, especially in the emergency rooms isn’t the best,” Durandis said.

All three hospitals scored well for taking steps to avoid patient harm, they received low marks for doctors trained for intensive care units, according to results from the Leap Frog Group.

Bayfront Health Punta Gorda and Fawcett Memorial Hospital also scored low on certain hospital infections.

Dorothy Schneider, of Port Charlotte, said she was discouraged by others to seek medical treatment at Bayfront Health Punta Gorda.

 

 

“I know the one in Punta Gorda people tell me don’t even go there,” Schneider said.

Schneider added she herself has never had an issue with Bayfront Health.

Durandis said she’s decided to go travel further to go to another hospital.

“My family, we prefer Sarasota Memorial actually my sister and sister-in-law have both chosen to give birth there rather than here,” Durandis said.

Anyone interested in searching for hospital grades can do so by zip code, city or state by clicking here.

Read the full statements from both medical facilities below:

Bayfront Health

We are disappointed by our grade in the Leapfrog update at both Bayfront Health Port Charlotte and Bayfront Health Punta Gorda.

It is important to remember however that some of the data used in this report dates back as far as July 2014. For example, patient fall safety data is from a collection period ranging 07/01/2014-09/30/2015. Since this time both facilities have put interdisciplinary teams in place that focus on daily executive, clinical, and nurse leader rounding, patient communication and bedside shift reporting. At both campuses, the executive teams visit patients at a minimum, five days per week, to get real-time feedback and recommendations. We have also invested in updated equipment and facility upgrades to provide our patients with a safer environment, including beds equipped with alarms and new patient call systems.

Two Leapfrog measures which hold the most weight are computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) systems and ICU physician staffing. Our facilities do not fully meet the CPOE standard at this time because our computer software is not currently capable to provide instantaneous decision support. We have begun to evaluate our system and have been in discussion with information technology vendors to determine what is needed to put this support in place. In regards to ICU physician staffing, to meet criteria, a hospital must have a physician in the ICU at least eight hours per day, seven days per week. We are evaluating the use of tele-intensivists to provide better intensivist coverage and enable our facilities to meet the standard fully in the future.

Tracking quality data, daily attention to process improvement, and collaboration between our employees and the medical staff support the delivery of quality care and our improvements over time. At both Bayfront Health Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, we focus on and make patient safety a priority every day. When choosing where to receive medical care, we encourage consumers to consider a variety of factors such as speaking with their physician about their individual care plan and by looking up safety and quality information for their state.

Fawcett Memorial Hospital

Patient care and safety continues to be of the utmost importance at Fawcett Memorial Hospital and we are committed to transparency by sharing accurate, meaningful information about quality performance. We were disappointed in the latest rating from Leapfrog but are confident that our performance metrics have improved since the data period that these scores were tabulated. We have a strong history of exceptional performance with many rating organizations, including over twenty clinical recognitions from Healthgrades and the Joint Commission.