Cary Medical Center in Caribou was honored with an "A" Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, in independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.  The Hospital Safety Score was calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's Blue Ribbon Expert Panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections.  U.S. hospitals were assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for their safety.

"It's the Leapfrog Group's goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital", said Leah Binder, president and CEO of the Leapfrog Group.  "We congratulate hospitals that earned an 'A' and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first."

"We congratulate hospitals that earned an 'A' and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first."

Kris Doody, RN, and CEO at Cary Medical Center said that creating a 'culture' of patient safety is a major priority at the hospital."We take patient safety very seriously here and we work hard at it every day so that it becomes a 'way of life' for our staff", said Doody who leads the hospitals patient safety initiatives.  "It takes our entire organization including all clinical and support staff to earn such high marks and we are very proud of our 'A' grade."

Doody also pointed out that having open dialogue with the hospital's medical staff has also been a key factor in the success of their patient safety program.  Shawn Laferriere, D. O., Radiologist and Chief of Staff at Cary said that being able to discuss issues openly and engaging patients in the establishment of a safe hospital experience are important factors.

"As physicians we must lead the patient safety effort", said Laferriere who is a native of Fort Kent, Maine and Chief of Radiology.  "By working with our colleagues, nursing staff and listening to our patients and families we can make great strides in medication safety, fall prevention, and other critical factors".

Calculated under the guidance of the Leapfrog Group's nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.  The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (John Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).

About the Leapforg Group

The Leapfrog Group is a national organization using 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 flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals.  The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.