Lee Health announces award for quality and safety by Leapfrog Group

HealthPark Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital have been named a “Top Teaching Hospital” and Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida a “Top Children’s Hospital” nationally by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization focused on health care quality and safety.

• Lee Memorial Hospital recognition 
• HealthPark Medical Center recognized 
• Golisano Children’s Hospital recognized 

More than 2,200 hospitals were considered for a Top Hospital Award, and Lee Health Hospitals are three of 105 in the country to earn the recognition.

The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. The standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital Methodology.

“Leapfrog is a national leader in driving quality health care and it is an honor to be recognized for our commitment to patient safety,” said Alex Daneshmand, D.O., MBA, FAAP, chief quality and patient safety officer at Lee Health. “COVID-19 brought many challenges that our health care workers have had to overcome. This recognition is a reflection of our dedicated team of doctors, advanced providers, nurses and support staff and the amazing work they do every day to provide safe and compassionate care.”

The Leapfrog Group issues its safety grades twice per year, and all Lee Health adult hospitals earned straight A’s on the 2020 spring report card. The fall 2020 report card will be publicly issued on December 14.

“Being recognized as a Top Hospital is an extraordinary feat, and we are honored to recognize HealthPark Medical Center, Lee Memorial Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida this year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

A Lee Health leader we spoke to to was happy to see the awards from a professional and personal perspective.

“I’ve had all three of my children here. I’ve been a patient here. My son and daughters have been patients here,” said Teresa Frank Fahrner, the director of volunteer resources and safety champion at Lee Health.

Frank-Fahrner takes Lee Health’s patient safety seriously.

“As a safety champion, I’ve been asked to help spread the safety tools that our organization has created,” Frank-Fahrner said.

It’s that role, along with 600 other safety champions, daily safety huddles and other unique innovations that make HealthPark and Lee Memorial Hospital top teaching hospitals and Golisano a top children’s hospital in the country.

The Lee Health facilities beat out 2,000 others nationwide to be recognized by Leapfrog.

“This is an incredibly prestigious honor, as it represents the top 5% of hospitals nationwide in quality and safety,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci, the CEO and president of Lee Health.

“They look at our overall safety structure, and they also look at our safety data,” said Dr. Alex Daneshmand said. “That includes hospital-acquired infections, our handwashing rate, our overall infection rate in the hospital system.”

This year, more than ever, families need to know their loved ones are in good hands.

“The more I hear about what the organization is doing to keep our patients safe means that they’re keeping me and my family safe,” Frank-Fahrner said.

To put things a little more into perspective, Golisano is one of nine children’s hospitals in the country to be recognized by Leapfrog for its outstanding quality and safety.

To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in its category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2020 Top Hospitals, visit leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

You can watch the press conference below once it begins or by clicking here.