UCSF Health Hospitals Earn ‘A’ in Patient Safety

Hospitals recognized for putting patient safety first, helping protect patients and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

By Laura López González Banner: UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

UCSF Health hospitals at Mission Bay, Parnassus Heights and Mount Zion have earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from the health care transparency nonprofit, The Leapfrog Group. Fewer than 1 in 3 hospitals nationwide can say the same.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades to hospitals nationwide based on their record of patient safety, including protecting patients and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion and UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay all earned Leapfrog’s top national safety honor. UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay includes the UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco.

UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights
exterior of the Mount Zion medical center
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion

UCSF Health hospital received A grades for patient safety after being evaluated on nearly three dozen measures, including rates of preventable injuries, accidents and infections, as well as the hospital systems used to prevent those events.

“At UCSF Health, our success is not only measured by the number of lives we save but also by the confidence our patients and their families place in us to provide high-quality care,” said UCSF Health President and Chief Executive Officer Suresh Gunasekaran. “These ratings reflect a daily commitment by every member of our teams to making sure our patients receive the best care possible.”

Prevent infections, save lives

UCSF Health has a deep commitment to providing outstanding patient-centered care and continuously innovates to ensure safe, effective and equitable care for all populations. Among its most recent efforts is the launch of a longitudinal campaign, “Preventing Infection, Saving Lives,” to reduce hospital-acquired infections throughout the organization. The initiative focuses on helping clinical teams incorporate evidence-based practices into daily patient care, which will improve hospital safety and reduce health care-associated complications.

At UCSF Health, our success is not only measured by the number of lives we save but also by the confidence our patients and their families place in us to provide high-quality care.”

Suresh Gunasekaran, President and CEO, UCSF Health

UCSF Mission Bay Medical Center is one of only 37 hospitals in California to earn an A grade in patient safety for all of the past five rating cycles. Leapfrog also named UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland a Top Children’s Hospital — a commendation shared by only 12 hospitals nationwide — in its separate assessment of children’s hospitals last December.

In addition to these ratings, UCSF Medical Center consistently ranks among the nation’s top hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Report, and has been named among the nation’s leaders in quality and safety across health care’s most highly regarded rating systems. It received a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its quality of care, has achieved the gold standard “Magnet recognition” for nursing excellence for more than a decade, and is listed among the top-performing academic medical centers in quality and safety by the health care performance improvement company Vizient, Inc.