Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), the flagship academic medical center of Dartmouth Health, received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade for Fall 2024 from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety. Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them.
“This recognition from The Leapfrog Group speaks to the incredible work that our people and teams do every day to ensure safe, patient-centered, timely, and equitable care to our community,” said Michael S. Calderwood, MD, MPH, chief quality officer at DHMC. “The Leapfrog survey highlights our progress toward implementing National Quality Forum endorsed processes and protocols focused on patient safety, our implementation of safety technologies such as bar code medication administration, and our work on communication, staff responsiveness, and transitions of care. Thank you to everyone contributing to our continual improvement in care delivery.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.
“Achieving an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade is a significant accomplishment for DHMC,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It reflects enormous dedication to your patients and their families, and your whole community should be proud. I extend my congratulations to DHMC, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts to put patients first.”
To explore DHMC’s full grade details and to find valuable tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.