Tenet Health Central Coast features two of only five hospitals in the state to receive an “A” rating every cycle since 2012

TEMPLETON — Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton and Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and were both awarded an “A” from The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grade, demonstrating the hospitals’ commitment to delivering safe, high-quality patient care to the Central Coast community.

Sierra Vista and Twin Cities have achieved this grade every reporting period since the ratings first came out in 2012 — only five hospitals in California, and 36 nationwide have achieved this since 2012.

“Awards like this are a testament to the culture of safety and trust that we foster at our hospitals,” said Mark Lisa, CEO of Tenet Health Central Coast. “We do this by encouraging open communication across teams and systemic evaluations that we compare with nationally-recognized benchmarks for best practices. Indeed, patient safety is an intrinsic tenet of a Community Built on Care.”

This designation recognizes Sierra Vista and Twin Cities’ efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States. The Hospital Safety Grade is designed to give consumers information they can use to make healthcare decisions for themselves or a loved one. The Leapfrog Group assigns A, B, C, D or F grades to hospitals across the country based on their ability to prevent errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and the results are free to the public.

“This outstanding achievement shows longstanding commitment to a culture of safety that puts patients first,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “For Tenet Health Central Coast hospitals, saving lives by preventing accidents, injuries, infections and errors is business as usual, and your community should be proud. We commend the staff, faculty, volunteers, leadership and board of directors for their never-ending quest for the highest standards of patient safety.”

To see both hospitals’ full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.