HENDERSONVILLE AND COLUMBUS, N.C. — Patients and families deserve clear, trusted information when choosing where to receive care.
AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk are demonstrating their commitment to providing that information by earning the 2026 Leapfrog Full Transparency Badge from The Leapfrog Group.
The new national recognition is awarded to hospitals that complete, affirm and submit all sections of the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
The voluntary survey examines hospital safety, quality and efficiency using nationally standardized measures and makes the results available to the public.
The Full Transparency Badge is not an additional safety grade or a statement that a hospital has achieved a specific score. Instead, it identifies hospitals willing to provide a more complete public view of their safety and quality practices.
For patients and families, that openness offers greater insight as they consider their care options. For hospitals, the survey creates meaningful opportunities to compare performance, identify areas for improvement and strengthen the systems designed to protect patients.
“Safety begins with a willingness to look closely at how we are doing and to be open about what we find,” said Gretchen Nicholson, MBA, MT, CPHRM, CPHQ, CPPS, executive director for quality, patient safety and risk for AdventHealth North Carolina. “By sharing this information for both AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk, we are giving patients and families another resource to help them make informed decisions. We are also holding ourselves accountable to continue learning, improving and building the trust people place in us when they come through our doors.”
The recognition continues AdventHealth North Carolina’s long-standing relationship with The Leapfrog Group and its independent patient safety initiatives.
AdventHealth Hendersonville has earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade in every grading period since fall 2016, including its 20th consecutive “A” in spring 2026.
While the twice-yearly Hospital Safety Grade evaluates a hospital’s performance on measures related to preventable harm, the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey gathers broader information about the practices and systems hospitals use to support safe, high-quality care. Some survey results are also used in calculating the Hospital Safety Grade.
“Completing the full survey for both hospitals requires collaboration across our teams and a careful review of information from many areas involved in patient care,” said Shannon Johnson, BSN, BA, RN, CPPS, patient safety RN, PSO liaison and Leapfrog Hospital Survey coordinator for AdventHealth North Carolina. “The process helps us validate our practices, measure our progress and identify opportunities to become even stronger. Most importantly, it gives our community a clearer view of the work happening every day to make care safer.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Survey includes measures addressing areas, such as medication safety, staffing, infection prevention, maternity care, surgical care and the systems hospitals have in place to prevent and respond to serious safety events.
“We applaud AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk for their commitment to transparency,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Transparency is one of the most powerful drivers of improvement in health care. By fully participating in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk are helping patients and families access meaningful information about the safety and quality of their care.”
The 2026 Full Transparency Badge appears with the results for AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk on Leapfrog’s public Hospital and Surgery Center Ratings website.
To learn more about AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Polk or find a physician, visit AdventHealthNC.com or call Call855-774-LIFE (5433).