St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne One of Only 17 Hospitals in the Nation to Recieve an “F” Safety Grade

According to a Leapfrog Group report, which was released November 8, 2018, St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne is the only hospital in Indiana – and one of only 17 in the nation – to get a failing grade. The Leapfrog Group makes semiannual hospital safety report which assesses more than 2,600 hospitals nationwide based on preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. 

A poor grade for St. Joseph is not anything new. St. Joseph received three straight D's in the past three reports issued earlier this year and in 2017. To assign grades, the safety report uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data.  

St. Joseph’s performed below average on infection rates, including hospital-acquired blood and urinary tract infections and infections with a bacterial species, Clostridium difficile, that causes severe diarrhea and often occurs after antibiotic use. The hospital also performed below average on the incidence of bed sores and falls, availability of specialists for intensive care patients and responsiveness of the staff. The hospital also did not report on several measures the report cited as key, including whether there are enough qualified nurses and hand-washing protocols.

This is horrible publicity for St. Joseph and hopefully will lead to some wholesale changes to St. Joseph and their safety protocols.

Read more about the records of St. Joseph and other local hospitals' ratings