When a person becomes injured or suffers an illness, they put their trust in the hospital or medical facility treating them. Unfortunately, as borne out by the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed each year, that is not always the case. To help provide patients with a resource to determine which medical facilities in their area have potentially dangerous issues, the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety publishes a Hospital Safety Guide that grades thousands of hospitals nationwide. The guide is published twice a year.
The categories that each facility is graded on are:
- Infections
- Problems with surgery
- Practices to prevent errors
- Safety problems
- Doctors, nurses, and hospital staff
The grades are all peer-reviewed and compiled by a panel of safety experts using national performance measures and surveys. The grade the facility receives represents its overall performance and its ability to keep patients from exposure to medical errors and preventable injuries. The panel uses an A, B, C, D, or F grading system.
Preventable hospital errors are one of the leading causes of death in this country, killing anywhere from 160,000 to 400,000 victims each year (depending on the study). According to the publishers of this guide, a patient who is treated at a facility that has a D or F rating has a 92 percent higher risk of dying from a safety issue than a patient who is treated at a hospital with an A rating.
The following list is how Virginia’s hospitals were graded in the spring 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety report:
Grade A
- Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center
- Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center
- Buchanan General Hospital
- Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
- Centra Bedford Memorial Hospital
- Centra Southside Community Hospital
- Clinch Valley Medical Center
- Danville Regional Medical Center
- Fauquier Hospital
- Henrico Doctors’ Hospital
- Inova Fair Oaks Hospital
- Inova Fairfax Hospital
- Inova Loudoun Hospital
- Inova Mount Vernon Hospital
- LewisGale Hospital – Pulaski
- LewisGale Hospital Alleghany
- LewisGale Hospital Montgomery
- Parham Doctors’ Hospital
- Reston Hospital Center
- Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg
- Riverside Regional Medical Center
- Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital
- Riverside Walter Reed Hospital
- Sentara CarePlex Hospital
- Sentara Leigh Hospital
- Sentara Princess Anne Hospital
- Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
- Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
- Southampton Memorial Hospital
- StoneSprings Hospital Center
- Tri-Cities Hospital
- Twin County Regional Healthcare
- University of Virginia Medical Center
- UVA Haymarket Medical Center
- UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center
- UVA Prince William Medical Center
- VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital
- Virginia Hospital Center–Arlington Health System
- Warren Memorial Hospital
- Winchester Medical Center
Grade B
- Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center (formerly Fort Belvoir Community Hospital)
- Augusta Health
- Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital
- Chippenham Hospital
- Inova Alexandria Hospital
- Johnston-Willis Hospital
- LewisGale Medical Center
- Mary Immaculate Hospital
- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
- Retreat Doctors’ Hospital
- Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital
- Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital
- Sentara Norfolk General Hospital
- Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center
- Sentara Obici Hospital
- Sentara RMH Medical Center
- Stafford Hospital
Grade C
- Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center
- Bon Secours Southside Regional Medical Center
- Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital of Richmond
- Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
- Centra Lynchburg General Hospital
- Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital
- Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
- Johnston Memorial Hospital
- Sovah Health Martinsville
- Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
- VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital
- VCU Medical Center Main Hospital
Grade D
Mary Washington Hospital
Not Graded
Lonesome Pine Hospital
Call a Personal Injury Law Firm
Navigating Virginia’s medical malpractice settlement process requires legal expertise, thorough investigation, and skilled negotiation. If you believe you have a medical malpractice claim, it’s essential to consult with an experienced Virginia Beach medical malpractice attorney who can guide you through the process, protect your rights, and advocate on your behalf to seek the compensation you deserve for your injuries and losses. Contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp for a free and confidential case evaluation and find out what legal recourse you may have.
Our firm has built a solid reputation for successfully obtaining medical malpractice settlements and verdicts for our clients who suffer harm, like the $1.6 million jury verdict for one client who suffered a seizure and traumatic brain injury after a doctor failed to diagnose a potentially life-threatening condition.
Our personal injury firm also has satellite offices in Hampton, Norfolk, and Portsmouth.