Newswise — LOS ANGELES — Keck Hospital of USC earned an “A” grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog, during the Fall 2019 release of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. This rating places Keck Hospital among the safest hospitals in the United States.

“Our ‘A’ hospital safety grade reflects the dedication of our physicians and staff  who make patient safety and well-being their top priority each and every day,” says Rod Hanners, chief operating officer for Keck Medicine of USC and CEO for Keck Medical Center of USC. “We are thrilled to be recognized for our continued commitment to deliver exceptional care, especially on the heels of being named one of the top 20 hospitals in the country by the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings.”

Keck Hospital’s “A” grade is the result of a strict adherence to comprehensive quality and safety programs and a dedication to continuous improvement projects.

“I am so proud of all of our teams and their many accomplishments impacting quality across the hospital,” says Stephanie Hall, MD, chief medical officer of Keck Hospital. Together, we expanded our nurse and physician-led quality improvement efforts and data collection procedures to more accurately reflect our high standards. Our health system continually invests in technology to ensure the safest and highest quality care and our ranking shows just that.”

The national nonprofit group uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data, thus providing the most complete picture of patient safety, to assign A, B, C, D or F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. Grades are peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

To see Keck Hospital’s full grade, and to access consumer-friendly patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.

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About Keck Medicine of USC

Keck Medicine of USC is one of only two university-based medical systems in the Los Angeles area. Its internationally renowned physicians and scientists provide world-class patient care at Keck Hospital of USC, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and more than 80 locations in Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Tulare and Ventura counties.

In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report ranked Keck Medical Center among the top 3 hospitals in Los Angeles and top 5 in California. The hospital also ranked in the top 4 in urology (tie); top 10 in geriatrics; top 15 in ophthalmology, cardiology & heart surgery, gastroenterology & GI surgery and nephrology; top 20 in neurology & neurosurgery; top 25 in cancer; and top 35 in pulmonology & lung surgery.

For more information, visit KeckMedicine.org.