The Brooklyn Hospital Center Earns Best Leapfrog Safety Grade in Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC) is proud to announce that they have received a B, the highest grade of all Brooklyn hospitals, for their commitment to keeping patients safe as measured by the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. In fact, no other hospital in New York City received a B, and only one received an A. The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit healthcare ratings organization that grades approximately 2,500 hospitals across the country on how well they keep patients safe from harm.

Developed under the guidance of a Blue Ribbon National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses multiple measures of hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

“TBHC has invested millions of dollars over the last few years to hire top doctors and specialists who have created new approaches to care and a better quality and safer environment for patients,” says Gary G. Terrinoni, President and CEO of TBHC. “These efforts are all important pieces of a larger long-term transformation plan for TBHC as we prepare ourselves for the next 175 years of serving our community.”

Several years ago, new leadership of this 464-bed hospital, the oldest hospital in Brooklyn and an independent community hospital, pledged to become a high-reliable organization of which they and their community can be proud.

Mr. Terrinoni, who was recruited by the TBHC Board in 2015, promoted Vasantha Kondamudi, MD, a self-professed quality and safety devotee, to Senior Vice President, Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer. Dr. Kondamudi worked with Mr. Terrinoni and staff to improve the hospital’s culture, practices and processes and improve all aspects of patient safety.

Several hospital-wide initiatives were launched such as a new critical care model that makes sure the most experienced physicians take care of the sickest patients. Daily surveillance of the hospital’s practices and processes was and is one tactic used to meet targets and led to significant reductions in infections. In fact, in 2017, TBHC measured the lowest levels of hospital-acquired infections the hospital ever recorded.

The hard work has been a group effort, Mr. Terrinoni is quick to say. “This grade is a testament to not only the outstanding efforts made by Dr. Kondamudi and her team, but by all the clinical, nursing and ancillary teams throughout the hospital.”

Mr. Terrinoni and TBHC are already setting sights on an A. According to Dr. Kondamudi:

“We do not just want to be the best hospital in Brooklyn, we want to be the best in the nation.”

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