FORT WALTON BEACH — The Leapfrog Group , an independent patient safety watchdog group that has been grading healthcare facilities for over 20 years, recently announced its Spring 2024 grades for hospitals around the county.
Leapfrog grades hospitals on the classic A-F scale twice a year for patient safety and uses more than 20 factors, such as nursing and bedside care and the occurrence of dangerous objects left inside a patient's body, to help those seeking care select the best hospital in their area.
Five hospitals are available for residents within the Northwest Florida Daily News coverage area, with four in Okaloosa County and only one in Walton County.
Below are the results from the latest spring report. To see any of the hospitals' full reports, go to https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org , and search for the hospital.
As the lone hospital in Walton County, Ascension Sacred Heart on the Emerald Coast , located in Miramar Beach, regained its "A" rating after falling to a "B" rating in the fall. Overall, the facility has remained the highest-scoring hospital in the area for the past four years, retaining its "A" rating from spring 2021 to spring 2023.
The facility performs better than others nationwide in preventing infections and surgery problems, reducing safety problems, and providing doctor, nurse, and hospital staff care.
Emerald Coast falls below the national average in implementing practices to prevent medical errors. According to the Leapfrog review, Sacred Heart Emerald Coast received a grade of 70, while the national average score is 91.81.
In a release provided by Sacred Heart Emerald Coast, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer Robin Neumeier expressed pride in receiving an "A" rating from the non-profit, saying,
"Earning a Leapfrog 'A' tells us we are achieving our goal of earning the gold standard measure of patient safety," Robin Neumeier, chief nursing officer and chief operating officer for the hospital, said in a news release.
Located in Fort Walton Beach, HCA Fort Walton-Destin received its fourth "A" rating in the past two years, a massive improvement from spring 2021 when the facility received a "C" grade before moving up to a "B" before the end of the year.
The hospital performed better than average in three categories: the number of safety problems, the number of problems with surgery and the practices to prevent errors.
The hospital struggled in the ratings because of overall safety problems and infections, with the latter scoring 6 points higher than the national average.
The Spring 2024 report was the first time Leapfrog had evaluated the 96th Medical Group . Located at Eglin Air Force Base, the healthcare facility scored well regarding the number of safety problems encountered and the care of doctors, nurses and hospital staff.
The facility scored below average in only two categories: problems with surgery and practices to prevent errors. The former was only a tenth off from matching the worst hospital's score.
In 2021, HCA Twin Cities , located in Niceville, held on to an "A" grade through both reporting cycles but then fell two letter grades to a "C" in 2022. By 2023, Twin Cities reclaimed a "B" rating and has held steady ever since.
Twin Cities performed better than average in only one category: the number of problems with surgery, which matched the score of the best hospital in the nation.
Twin Cities comes short in the safety problems category, with a score only 0.04 higher than the national average.
Located in Crestview, North Okaloosa Medical Center has been the lowest-ranked medical facility in Okaloosa County for the past three years. In 2021, the facility received a "C" grade in both reports before jumping to a "B" in 2022. In 2023, the facility fell back to a "C" rating, where it remains for the spring 2024 grading cycle.
North Okaloosa shined in two categories: doctors, nurses and hospital staff and problems with surgery — matching the same score the best hospitals in the country had.
North Okaloosa faltered in the practices to prevent errors, coming in 11 points below the national average.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: What's the best hospital on the Emerald Coast? See Leapfrog Group's latest ratings
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