First few Article Sentences
Petaluma Valley Hospital, part of St. Joseph Health in Sonoma County, recently garnered a top hospital safety score of “A” from the Leapfrog Group. The hospital, just 40 miles north of San Francisco off the 101 freeway, is an 80-bed acute and critical care hospital that offers 24-hour emergency and outpatient services. The Leapfrog Group, an independent national non-profit founded by employers and healthcare experts to promote transparency and safety of healthcare information, bases the score or “grades” on evidence-based data the organization has obtained through publicly available measures. The score is derived from information of how a hospital keeps patients safe from infections, injuries, medical and medication errors. The organization, which also rewards hospitals that consistently demonstrate high quality care, is the creator and administrator of the Hospital Safety Score website. The site gives healthcare consumers a place to quickly check on how a particular hospital rates safety-wise.