Mercy Hospital of Buffalo has achieved a national milestone.
The flagship of Catholic Health now has been recognized with a first-ever Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade “A” rating. It’s part of a nearly 15-year journey, when the hospital received a “C” rating.
It took a concerted effort over the years, with particular focus on improving infection scores and patient experience, said Lisa Lacongo, Mercy's director of quality public safety.
“Many times, our emergency room is busy with patients holding," she said. "That does impact our scores, so we have been working to alleviate the congestion in the ED, open additional units, get those patients to the place that they need to be for their best outcomes and care.”
New hospital President Derek Drake is a former nurse and understands the investment required by staff to improve their rating by such a large amount. Part of continuing to improve will mean capitalizing on new technology, he said.
“We know what areas we still have to put more effort in," Drake said. "We also know that we still have to maintain our focus toward all 24 metrics, and there's other nationally recognized accreditations that we have yet to achieve.”
Metrics considered for the hospital rating include preventing medical errors, efficiency of care, injuries and accidents.
Around 30% of hospitals in the U.S. receive an “A” rating. Mercy joins Mount St. Mary’s Hospital as the only other in the region to hit the mark.
