Reinforcing Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to health care quality excellence, Kaiser Permanente’s Modesto and Manteca hospitals have been recognized with “A” grades for patient safety, according to The Leapfrog Group’s biannual Hospital Safety Grades report.

Leapfrog reviews hospital clinical data and assigns hospitals grades based on approximately two dozen measures that analyze patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections.

“As we focus on providing high-quality care to our patients, members, and the communities we serve, safety is always our top priority,” said Aphriekah Duhaney-West, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente Central Valley. “We are proud of this top rating for patient safety and will continue to ensure our patients are cared for in a safe and comforting environment.”

This spring, 13 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California received A grades from Leapfrog including: Antioch, Fresno, Manteca, Modesto, Oakland, Roseville, San Francisco, San Jose, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, South Sacramento, and South San Francisco.

“Providing safe patient care is paramount to the work we do each and every day,” said Sanjay Marwaha, MD, physician in chief for Kaiser Permanente Central Valley. “We are honored to be recognized once again by the Leapfrog Group as a leader in patient safety as we continue to deliver exceptional care to our patients.”

The Leapfrog Group assigns letter grades to nearly 3,000 hospitals throughout the United States. The grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

More than 60 percent of Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals received an A grade. In California overall, only about 30 percent of the state’s hospitals earned this top grade.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits, released its Hospital Safety Grades after examining publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections at U.S. hospitals. The report includes data collected by national health care organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scores are calculated based on more than two dozen publicly available measures, and hospitals are then assigned A, B, C, D or F grades for their safety records. The grades are released as a free resource to help patients and their families make informed health care decisions.

Kaiser Permanente is one of America’s leading integrated health care providers and serves 12.5 million members. For more information and a complete list of the hospital safety grades, visit Leapfrog.