Rush-Copley has been honored with an “A” Hospital Safety ScoreSM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.

The A score was awarded in the Fall 2014 update to the Hospital Safety Score with A, B, C, D or F scores assigned to U.S. hospitals based on preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections.  The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.

“We are pleased to be recognized once again by Leapfrog for our strong culture of safety,” said Barry C. Finn, president and CEO of Rush-Copley.  “Our physicians and staff work every day to improve the quality of service and care they provide — care that’s delivered with the highest standards of safety and compassion.”

Rush-Copley meets or exceeds national benchmarks for many quality and safety measures.  The medical center holds more accreditations and disease specific certifications than any other area hospital and has earned disease-specific certifications from the Joint Commission in maternal/fetal medicine and newborn care; stroke care, joint replacement and heart failure.

To see Rush-Copley’s scores as they compare nationally and locally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org, which also provides information on how the public can protect themselves and loved ones during a hospital stay. People can also check their local hospital’s score on the free mobile app, available at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors.

About Rush-Copley

Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, IL, is a 210-bed hospital providing health and wellness services to the greater Fox Valley community. Nearly 500 physicians and 2,500 clinical and professional staff members provide advanced medicine and extraordinary care to patients.  Rush-Copley is a member of the Rush-System for Health.

About The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

SOURCE: Rush-Copley Hospital press release

• Editor’s Note: Kane County Connects welcomes information from institutions throughout Kane County that are of general interest to Kane County citizens. For more information or to submit an article for publication, contact Community Outreach Coordinator Rick Nagel at ricknagel23@gmail.com.