New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report
New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report
New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report
New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report
New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report

New Mexico ranks near bottom in hospital safety report

A recent study has ranked New Mexico’s hospitals as being the 45th worst overall in the country.

A recent report into hospital safety in the United States has turned up some bad news for residents of New Mexico. As MedCity News reports, Leapfrog Group recently released its influential Hospital Safety Grade for spring 2017. The study gives a letter grade to general acute care hospitals across the country based on each facility’s accident, infection, and error rates. New Mexico came near the bottom of the rankings, with just one of its hospitals receiving an A grade. The report also points out how serious the issue of hospital errors is, with about 1,000 patients dying in the U.S. everyday because of them.

New Mexico ranks poorly

In total, Leapfrog graded 2,639 hospitals across the country, giving 823 an A grade, 706 a B, 933 a C, 167 a D, and 10 an F. The health safety group used 30 patient safety measures when assigning the grade, including infection rates and accident numbers. Those figures were then used to rank all of the states and the District of Columbia (except Maryland, which doesn’t publicly release hospital safety data) by the percentage of hospitals that earned an A.

Maine, Hawaii, and Oregon ranked at the top, with 68.8, 66.7, and 59.4 of its hospitals receiving A rankings respectively. New Mexico, unfortunately, came in near the bottom in the 45 th position. Out of the 15 hospitals in the state that received a grade, only one, or 6.7 percent, got an A. Additionally, only one hospital in the state received a B, with the remainder getting either poor C or D grades. New Mexico was, along with Nevada, one of just two states that had only one hospital receive an A rating. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, and the District of Columbia had no hospitals receive an A grade.

Hospital errors a public safety risk

Those rankings highlight just how serious an issue hospital safety continues to be. The Leapfrog Group estimates that everyday about 1,000 patients in the U.S. die because of preventable medical errors. The group also notes that hospitals that receive a D or F grade have a patient mortality risk that is 50 percent higher than at A hospitals. The group also estimates that 33,000 lives would be saved every year if every hospital in the country began to perform at A levels.

Medical malpractice law

The above report is a reminder of the risks patients face every time they visit a hospital. Medical errors are an enormous problem that cost the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. Anybody who may have been hurt because of a medical error should get in touch with a medical malpractice attorney today. An experienced attorney can help clients pursue whatever claims they may be eligible for and help them uphold their rights.