All AdventHealth Facilities in Flagler, Lake and Volusia Counties Earns an ‘A’ for Patient Safety

FLAGLER, LAKE and VOLUSIA COUNTIES, FLA., May 15, 2019 – Every AdventHealth hospital in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties received an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

With facilities in Daytona Beach, DeLand, Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast and Tavares, this designation recognizes AdventHealth’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

“The ‘A’ safety grades are the result of our teams’ relentless focus on keeping patients safe. No individual or isolated group could achieve an ‘A’ rating alone; teamwork is essential,” said Rhonda Battani, executive director of quality for the AdventHealth hospitals in the region. “We continue to strengthen our culture of safety that hinges on teamwork and our employees are energized, knowing their work creates an environment that keeps patients safe.”

The Leapfrog Group is a Washington D.C.-based national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

This was the first A rating for AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach.

“I am extremely proud of our team and all of the work they have done over the past three years to bring our scores all the way up to an ‘A’,” said Dr. Dennis Hernandez, AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach CEO. “We are thrilled to share the progress we’ve made with our community and show our commitment to providing a safe environment for the very best patient care.”

In March, Hernandez became the CEO of the 109-bed New Smyrna Beach facility. He previously served as the hospital chief medical officer.

“Over the past year, our teams have worked diligently to develop new evidence-based processes and improve current processes to enhance the safety of our patients,” Hernandez said. “With this ‘A,’ we will not let our guard down and will continue to keep this as a top focus. Patient safety is our number one priority, so it will remain at the top of our agenda, with a heightened awareness, day-in and day-out.”

AdventHealth Daytona Beach is one of only 41 “Straight A” hospitals in the U.S. to be awarded an ‘A’ every grading cycle since 2012.

“One of the reasons we’ve been consistently earning an ‘A’ from Leapfrog is due to the quality processes and rigors we’ve put into place. We’ve made patient safety part of our culture and we have enjoyed the journey,” said Ed Noseworthy, CEO of AdventHealth Daytona Beach. “I want to congratulate our team. The superb work they do each and every day has helped us earn this achievement year after year. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people and a better group of leaders to work with.”

“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

To learn more, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org.

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.

About AdventHealth Central Florida Division - North Region
Encompassing six AdventHealth hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties, the AdventHealth Central Florida Division - North Region is the largest hospital system in the area with 1,193 beds and more than 8,000 team members. The North Region includes facilities in Daytona Beach, DeLand, Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast and Tavares. Formerly known as Florida Hospital, the organization’s parent company changed the name of all wholly-owned entities to AdventHealth on Jan. 2, 2019. Based in Altamonte Springs, AdventHealth is a connected system of care. With more than 80,000 team members, AdventHealth is one of the nation’s largest faith-based health care systems with nearly 50 hospitals and hundreds of care sites in nearly a dozen states. With the mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth provides whole person care to heal the body, mind and spirit.