St. Tammany Health System named a Top Teaching Hospital nationally
STHS Communication Department, commdept@stph.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 8 , 2020
COVINGTON, La. – Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, St. Tammany Health System’s Covington hospital was named a Top Teaching Hospital nationally by The Leapfrog Group in an announcement released Tuesday (Dec. 8).
Leapfrog’s Top Hospital Awards, which recognize hospitals in a number of categories, is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive.
St. Tammany Health System’s Covington hospital is the only one in Louisiana to be named a Leapfrog Top Teaching Hospital for 2020. It was recognized in the small hospital category, which is for those with 500 or fewer beds.
“Being recognized as a Top Hospital is an extraordinary feat and we are honored to recognize St. Tammany Health System this year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Despite the extraordinary pressure and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Tammany Health System has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to patients and to the Northshore community. We congratulate the board, staff and clinicians whose efforts made this honor possible.”
To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in its category.
The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital Methodology.
Over 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award. A total of 105 hospitals were selected as Top Hospitals, including:
- 9 Top Children’s Hospitals
- 29 Top General Hospitals
- 19 Top Rural Hospitals
- 48 Top Teaching Hospitals
The Leapfrog recognition is the latest in a string of recent honors bestowed upon St. Tammany Health System for general excellence, patient safety and in other areas. They include nine Women’s Choice awards, eight Carechex recognitions, and a Care Continuum Center of Excellence designation by the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer.
To see the full list of institutions honored by Leapfrog as 2020 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.
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About St. Tammany Health System
St. Tammany Health System is the heartbeat of its community, caring for patients and families with excellence, compassion and teamwork; it will strengthen the health of its community with compassion, innovation and partnership and is recognized for quality, safety and the patient experience by CareChex, Leapfrog, Healthgrades, Hospital Compare, Women’s Choice and US News & World Report. St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 1 is an independent service district in a clinically integrated partnership with Ochsner Health. Together, the two organizations focus on aligning their healthcare offerings to best serve patients and families in west St. Tammany and surrounding areas. Under their agreement, each retains its autonomy; neither manages nor owns the other. Self-supporting, not-for-profit STHS receives no tax funding. More at stph.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.