Local hospitals get low patient safety scores

The hospital is creating a new position — vice president of medical affairs — a post that will be held by a physician who will be dedicated to safety practices.

One area where Glendale Adventist fell short was the number of patients who had breathing failure after surgery. Roberts, who has held the top job at the hospital for only about six months, said the data for that particular measurement go back to 2008 and he didn't have enough information to comment.

Verdugo Hills Hospital said in a statement regarding the C grade that it declined to participate in the voluntary Leapfrog study, which likely affected its standing.

But Leah Binder, president and chief executive of Leapfrog, said there were 146 hospitals that didn't respond but that also received an A, and there were hundreds of non-respondent hospitals that got a B.

If a hospital didn't participate, Leapfrog used publicly accessible resources to calculate their grade, Binder added.

Like the other two hospitals, Verdugo Hills officials pointed out that Leapfrog used older information in its report. For example, Leapfrog gave Verdugo Hills a grade of 79.2% out of 100% for removal of a urinary catheter on post-operative day, but hospitalcompare.hhs.gov — operated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — currently gives the hospital 81%.

Glendale Memorial did participate in the report, said Claire Hanks, vice president of patient care services and chief nurse executive at the hospital.

“We see that it has value out there, and participating demonstrates our commitment to patient care and safety,” she said.