Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital markets itself as Carilion’s “flagship facility,” bragging that U.S. News & World Report ranks it as one of the top six hospitals in Virginia. Somebody better tell that to the Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers, using their collective influence to foster positive change in U.S. health care, according to its website. The system used by Leapfrog rates hospitals “on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents and infections” and our local hospital did not score very well.
Today’s Roanoke Times reports the majority of the 71 hospitals in the state earned an “A” rating but Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital earned a “C “rating. I don’t think Virginians want to place their lives and well-being in the hands of a “C” hospital. Roanoke and Southwest Virginia deserves better.
Leapfrog invites consumers to look up any hospital at www.hospitalsafetygrade.org. A 4-minute video explains how to grasp the data.