LOS ANGELES – According to the 2009 Leapfrog Hospital Recognition Program, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is designated a “Top Hospital,” and is one of only eight children’s hospitals in the nation to achieve that status, according to the announcement made at The Leapfrog Group’s Annual Meeting today (Dec. 3, 2009) in Washington, DC.
More than 1,200 hospitals completed The Leapfrog Hospital Survey, but only thirty-four urban, eight children’s and three rural hospitals were named Top Hospitals based on results from the survey (available at www.leapfroggroup.org). It is the only national, public comparison of hospitals on key issues, including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices and measures of efficiency.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles received the “Top Hospital’ designation by amassing a quality score of 95 or better. The average score for all the children’s hospitals evaluated by The Leapfrog Group was 72.4.
The eight children’s hospitals recognized by The Leapfrog Group include: Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (Calif.), Children’s National Medical Center (Washington, DC), Children’s Hospital Boston, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, and The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital (Tenn.).
“ The Board of Trustees and Administration at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles have made a commitment to improving the quality and safety of our patients,” said Childrens Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Richard D. Cordova, FACHE. “We aren’t surprised to be listed among the nation’s top children’s hospitals, but we are certainly proud to be named along with these other wonderful institutions, all dedicated to providing the best possible care to our young patients.”
“This year’s class of Top Hospitals not only hits the mark in areas such as medication error prevention and preventing ICU deaths, but they also use their resources wisely, providing excellent and efficient outcomes for patients,” said Leah Binder, CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Regardless of what happens to health care reform, these hospitals are the future.”
The Leapfrog Group uses the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The Leapfrog Group was founded in 2000 by the Business Roundtable and is supported by its members, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other sources.
The Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the gold standard for comparing hospitals’ performance on the national standards of safety, quality and efficiency that are most relevant to consumers and purchasers of care. Hospitals that participate in The Leapfrog Hospital Survey achieve hospital-wide improvements that translate into millions of lives and dollars saved.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America’s premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States.
Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital Los Angeles one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only 10 children’s hospitals in the nation – and the only children’s hospital on the West Coast – ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the U.S. News & World Report rankings and named to the magazine’s “Honor Roll” of children’s hospitals.
