Hilton Head, S.C., - Hilton Head Hospital and Coastal Carolina Hospital were the only hospitals in the region to earn the grade of ‘A’ in the fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the hospital’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

“Having an ‘A’ rating from an esteemed group such as Leapfrog reflects the unwavering commitment of our physicians, clinical and support staff to put patients and best practices first. As an organization, we are very proud of this accomplishment and what it represents.” said Joel C. Taylor, Market Chief Executive Officer for Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, which includes Hilton Head Hospital and Coastal Carolina Hospital.

Chairman of the Board of Directors for Hilton Head Hospital, Dr. Jeffery M. Reuben, echoed Taylor’s sentiment and added that the hospital is an invaluable asset to the community and sets a high bar on standards of care.

Marty Sauls, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Coastal Carolina Hospital said “Coastal Carolina Hospital’s dedication to patients is the driving force behind its exemplary achievements. Congratulations to the staff on receiving these well-deserved accolades.”

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership is protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes genuine commitment at every level – from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors – and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.”

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. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

To learn more, please visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.