A national nonprofit released its biannual safety rankings of hospitals across the U.S. for fall 2025. Which California hospitals ranked among the safest?
The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency in healthcare, released its Hospital Safety Grade on Nov. 13 ranking the safety of hospitals to see which could use some improvement in quality of care.
The nonprofit ranked hospitals from the safest to the least safe in five letter categories: A, B, C, D, and F.
The list ranks the hospital’s ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections, according to a news release from the nonprofit. The problems are largely preventable and cause as many as 250,000 deaths a year, the release says.
The rankings also found that about 90% of the hospitals ranked were part of a health system and the chance of a hospital in a health system ranking A was about 94%.
Hospitals could also get a “straight A” ranking, meaning they ranked A for more than two years in a row.
Nationally, 358 hospitals ranked in the A category and 95% of those were Straight A hospitals.
The nonprofit determined the grades using a public, peer-reviewed methodology calculated by top patient safety experts, according to their website.
How safe are California hospitals?
The nonprofit ranked 284 hospitals in California, with two not graded for lack of data. Among the A-rank hospitals were 45 that received a “straight A” ranking.
Some Southern California hospitals that received such a distinction include St. John’s Hospital in Camarillo, Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage and Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center in Riverside.
Utah, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut and North Carolina were the five states with the highest percentage of A-rank hospitals in the country.
While California did not rank high percentage-wise, it still had over 125 hospitals with an A ranking. The Golden State also saw a slight drop in A rankings compared to last fall, but an increase in B-ranked hospitals, with two fewer A rank hospitals and six more B hospitals.
California hospital rankings:
Hospitals in Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming had no A rank hospitals
To find out how a hospital near you ranked, go to www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Bi-annual safety rankings show which California hospitals made the list?
Reporting by Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
