Sonoma County hospitals earn high marks

Santa Rosa’s three major hospitals earned high grades for patient safety and medical care quality, according to ratings released Wednesday by a national nonprofit group that scores hospitals.

Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center received an A grade, while Memorial Hospital and Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital each earned a B.

The grades come from the Leapfrog Group, whose Hospital Safety Score is released twice each year, during the fall and spring.

Kaiser has received straight As since 2012.

Sutter’s B grade is up from the two Cs it got in 2013. However, Sutter received an A in the fall of 2014.

The local Sutter facility spent much of 2014 preparing for the transition from its old medical campus on Chanate Road to its new hospital on Mark West Springs Road.

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital’s B is up from two Cs it got last year. It last earned an A in the spring of 2012.

Behind the overall grades are detailed rankings for specific safety issues and medical procedures, such as those used to deal with collapsed lungs, using correct antibiotics before surgery or having enough qualified nurses.

Kaiser earned “above average” scores for most measures. In only a few instances did it get below-average scores.

For example, Kaiser did well in preventing infections in the blood during a patient’s stay in the ICU, but the health care giant scored below average with infections in the urinary tract during ICU stays.

Lisa Amador, a Sutter spokeswoman, said the medical provider was “pleased” with its grade, which was only three-tenths of a point away from an A rating. Amador said the hospital’s new electronic health record system, launched in October with the new hospital, will improve scores for standard safety procedures such as doctors ordering medications through a computer and tracking patient risk.

“Electronic health records will improve our scores with Leapfrog in surveys to come,” Amador said, adding that she expects the new hospital to receive an overall A grade next fall.

Kaiser said the review from an independent organization served as “important” public information.

“Our A grades are a testament to the patient-centered care provided by our physicians, nurses and staff,” said Judy Coffey, Kaiser’s senior vice president and area manager in Marin and Sonoma counties.

Dr. Richard Carvolth, chief medical officer for St. Joseph Health Sonoma County, which runs Memorial Hospital, said studies produced by organizations such as Leapfrog are carefully evaluated for insight on how to better improve patient care.

“Every day, our team of caregivers is focused on our goal of providing perfect care to the patients we are privileged to serve,” Carvolth said, in a statement.

Outside ratings agencies, he said, evaluate hospital outcomes and quality over extended periods of time - in some cases as long as five years retrospectively.

“We are committed to ongoing evaluation of these numerous scoring methods and continue to adapt our data reporting as appropriate to respond to these various evaluation methods, including the Leapfrog Group,” he said.

The full scores are available at: www.hospitalsafety?score.org. You can search by hospital, ZIP code, city or state.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.