A group of CHI Memorial executive leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to receive Leapfrog’s ‘Top Hospital’ Award during Leapfrog’s 2022 Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony. Pictured, left to right: Matthew Kodsi, MD, PhD, chief medical officer, CHI Memorial; Sherry Fusco, senior vice president, surgical services and chief nursing officer, CHI Memorial; Karen Frank, market director, quality, CHI Memorial; Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group; and Janelle Reilly, market CEO, CHI Memorial.
Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, CHI Memorial was named a Top General Hospital nationally by The Leapfrog Group.
"The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive," officials said. "The Top Hospital designation is bestowed by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers widely acknowledged as the toughest standard-setters for health care safety and quality.
More than 2,200 hospitals were considered for the Top Hospital award. CHI Memorial is one of 32 general hospitals to receive the distinction.
"CHI Memorial Hospitals Chattanooga and Hixson also received an “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for Fall 2022, the only Chattanooga-area hospitals to achieve an “A” grade. This national distinction recognizes CHI Memorial’s achievements in protecting patients from harm and error. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring."
“I am grateful to our physicians, nurses and employees for their ongoing commitment to patient safety,” said Janelle Reilly, market CEO, CHI Memorial. “This outstanding achievement is possible because everyone at CHI Memorial puts the safety and well-being of our patients first every day.”
The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the awards, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital Methodology.
“We are honored to recognize CHI Memorial as a Top Hospital this year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “CHI Memorial has demonstrated that they truly put patients first. We congratulate the board, staff and clinicians whose efforts made this honor, as well as the “A” Safety Grade, possible. Your hospital team should be extremely proud of their dedication and achievement.”
To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in its category.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harms to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public
To see the full list of institutions honored as 2022 Top Hospitals, visit
leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.
To see CHI Memorial’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.