AdventHealth Ocala Named Safest Hospital in Marion County

June 08, 2020 — At a time when patient safety in our hospitals and health care facilities is top of mind across the globe, AdventHealth Ocala has earned a Leapfrog grade “B” for patient safety by the nationally recognized Leapfrog Group, the highest grade in Marion County. When AdventHealth acquired the Ocala campus in August 2018, the hospital had a Leapfrog grade “D.” Improving the safety grade from a “D” to a “B” shows the hospital has done a better job of protecting patients from mistakes, injuries, accidents and infections. The health care ratings organization announced its safety ratings for over 2,600 hospitals across the country.

“We’ve made a promise to elevate healthcare for our Marion County neighbors and to become the safest choice for health care. We stand by that commitment,” said Joe Johnson, President and CEO of AdventHealth Ocala. “We will relentlessly pursue the Leapfrog grade “A” designation and consistently demonstrate best practices for safe and effective care. Our very mission calls us to excellence, and our brand promise is to help people feel whole. We’re on the right track, and this designation has reinforced the passion of our team to fulfill our promise.”

Leaders at AdventHealth Ocala have continued to implement key strategies to enhance patient safety since acquisition in 2018, including:

• Deploying hundreds of new IV pumps and dozens of teleboxes which allow care teams to monitor patients and medications in real time - significantly decreasing medication errors to patients.
• Implementing electronic health records which allow physicians to place the patient medication orders directly into the computer and allows nurses to scan a patient’s medications prior to administering medications – which has been shown to significantly decrease medication errors to patients.
• Renovating the emergency room to provide all private patient rooms to decrease infection rates and offer complete privacy during care.
• Reinstating safety huddles each morning to ensure all departments are informed of hospital and patient needs each day.
• Training over 2,000 team members on a change in culture to enhance how team members care for patients and each other.

“This achievement speaks to our culture of safety and the unwavering dedication of our teams to keeping our patients safe each and every day, not just during a pandemic” said Dr. Robin McGuinness, Senior Executive Officer of Patient Outcomes, AdventHealth West Florida Division. “We are so proud of these scores as they reflect the hard work and dedication of our leaders, physicians and staff who consistently make patient safety a top priority.”

Patient safety is the top priority at all AdventHealth locations. This year, all participating hospitals in the West Florida Division received either an ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade from the Leapfrog Safety Group.

AdventHealth voluntarily participates in the Leapfrog assessment and provides full transparency to our hospitals and our data to patient safety experts for review. To see a full list of safety grades, click here.

About AdventHealth West Florida Division

The West Florida Division of AdventHealth has some of the nation’s brightest medical minds making lifesaving breakthroughs with surgical pioneers, scientists and researchers using leading edge technology and innovation to deliver our brand of whole-person care. Our network of care includes AdventHealth Carrollwood, AdventHealth Connerton, AdventHealth Dade City, AdventHealth Lake Placid, AdventHealth North Pinellas, AdventHealth Ocala, AdventHealth Sebring, AdventHealth Tampa, AdventHealth Wauchula, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and AdventHealth Zephyrhills, as well as five freestanding offsite Emergency Rooms including AdventHealth Brandon ER, AdventHealth Central Pasco ER, AdventHealth Palm Harbor ER, AdventHealth TimberRidge ER, and AdventHealth Westchase ER. We are more than hospitals, as we have a robust system of care including specialty acute care, over 200 primary care and specialty employed physicians, Express Care at Walgreens clinics, urgent care centers, wound care, physical therapy, home care, mobile mammography and more. AdventHealth is a faith-based not-for-profit health care system with a mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ. AdventHealth has hundreds of care sites and nearly 50 hospitals across the United States. For more information about AdventHealth, visit AdventHealth.com, or Facebook.com/AdventHealth, and for West Florida Division, click here.

About AdventHealth Ocala

AdventHealth Ocala is a 425-bed full-service community hospital that opened in 1898. In August 2018, AdventHealth Ocala became a part of the AdventHealth network. The facility is 640,000 square feet and sits on 15-acres. Within the hospital network there are two 24/7 ER facilities, one onsite and another offsite, to better meet the needs of Marion County. The onsite ER has both an adult and children’s emergency department that has over 50 combined beds with the ability to treat many conditions and injuries. Established in 2002, the offsite ER, AdventHealth TimberRidge ER, is a 24-hour full-service emergency department with 16 private rooms and was the first offsite ER in the state of Florida. The hospital offers many inpatient services including, labor and delivery through The Baby Place®, Orthopedic unit, comprehensive cardiovascular surgery unit, and a wound care center. AdventHealth Ocala is accredited The Joint Commission and has received recognition from American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. They are an Accredited Chest Pain Center and a Certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center.

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.