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 this guide’s publishers, a patient treated at a facility with a D or F rating has a 92 percent higher risk of dying from a safety issue than a patient treated at a hospital with an A rating.
The following list is how North Carolina’s hospitals were graded in the spring 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety report:
Grade A
- AdventHealth Hendersonville
- Atrium Health Stanly
- Atrium Health Union
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist – Davie Medical Center
- CarolinaEast Medical Center
- CaroMont Regional Medical Center
- Carteret Health Care
- Catawba Valley Medical Center
- Duke Raleigh Hospital
- Duke Regional Hospital
- Duke University Hospital
- ECU Health Duplin Hospital
- ECU Health Edgecombe Hospital
- FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital
- FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital – Richmond
- Hoke Healthcare
- Margaret R. Pardee Memorial Hospital
- Nash Hospitals, Inc.
- Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center
- Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center
- Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
- Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center
- Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
- Novant Health Medical Park Hospital
- Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center
- Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center
- Novant Health Rowan Medical Center
- Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center
- Person Memorial Hospital
- REX Holly Springs Hospital
- Rex Hospital, Inc.
- Rutherford Regional Medical Center
- Sentara Albemarle Medical Center
- UNC Health Wayne
- WakeMed Cary Hospital
- WakeMed Raleigh Campus
- Womack Army Medical Center
Grade B
- Alamance Regional Medical Center
- Annie Penn Hospital
- Atrium Health – Mercy
- Atrium Health Cabarrus
- Atrium Health Cleveland
- Atrium Health Lincoln
- Atrium Health Pineville
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Lexington Medical Center
- Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital
- Caldwell UNC Healthcare
- Carolinas Medical Center
- Central Harnett Hospital
- Cone Health -Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital
- ECU Health Beaufort Hospital
- Frye Regional Medical Center
- Johnston Health
- Johnston Health Clayton
- Lake Norman Regional Medical Center
- Maria Parham Health
- MH Mission Hospital McDowell, LLLP
- Mission Hospital
- Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune
- Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center
- Southeastern Regional Medical Center
- UNC Health Rockingham
- University of North Carolina Hospitals
- WakeMed North Hospital
- Watauga Medical Center
- Wesley Long Community
Grade C
- Atrium Health Kings Mountain
- Atrium Health University City
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health Wilkes Medical Center
- Blue Ridge HealthCare Hospitals, Inc. (dba UNC Health Blue Ridge)
- Cape Fear Valley Medical Center
- Central Carolina Hospital
- Columbus Regional Healthcare System
- ECU Health Medical Center
- ECU Health North Hospital
- ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan Hospital
- Harris Regional Hospital
- Haywood Regional Medical Center
- Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital
- Lenoir Memorial Hospital, Incorporated
- Northern Regional Hospital
- Onslow Memorial Hospital
- Randolph Health
- Sampson Regional Medical Center
- Scotland Health Care System
- Wilson Medical Center
Grade D
Granville Medical Center
Call a Personal Injury Law Firm
Navigating North Carolina’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 Outer Banks 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.