Greater Baltimore Medical Center Receives High Mark From Grades Group for Patient Safety

--The hospital receives an ‘A’ during the spring ratings by the nonprofit, Leapfrog Group--

Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) recently received an ‘A’ grade from a national hospital-safety organization. GBMC is only one of 12 hospitals in the state to receive this high mark.




The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, gives hospital safety grades twice per year based on categories that evaluate patient safety. The letter grade in The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Grades for spring 2020, measured how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries, and infections.




“Ignoring your health and delaying your care because of the threat of COVID-19, is not a good idea. I want to assure people that you are safe at GBMC, as COVID-19 positive patients are sequestered, so the risk is very minimal, and we want people with other medical needs to contact their physician or come to our hospital as necessary,” said John B. Chessare, MD, President and CEO of GBMC HealthCare. “We are proud of this honor and we work every day to move towards our vision of providing our patients with the care that we would want for our own loved ones. This ‘A’ grade recognizes our ardent efforts in patient safety even during the COVID-19 pandemic.”




Because of the crisis, GBMC HealthCare has measures in place, beyond separating COVID-19 positive patients from patients who are not infected. These include tents outside of the Emergency Department where nurses and medical technicians can triage patients who are showing respiratory symptoms. Dr. Chessare adds that “if you are having a medical emergency, you should always call 911 or come to the ED.”




The Leapfrog Group rates over 2,600 general acute care hospitals across the country, including 40 in Maryland. Hospitals are given a letter grade from ‘A’ through ‘F’ based on several factors, including medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. The goal is to determine what a patient's risk of injury or infection is if they are cared for at a given hospital.