Houlton Regional Hospital Earns 2022 Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital Award for Outstanding Quality and Safety
(Houlton, Maine, December 6, 2022) Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Houlton Regional Hospital was named a Top Rural Hospital nationally by The Leapfrog Group for the second consecutive year. Announced today, the Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive. The Top Hospital designation is bestowed by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers widely acknowledged as the toughest standard-setters for health care safety and quality. Top Hospitals will be honored tonight at the 2022 Leapfrog Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Shawn Anderson, CEO at Houlton Regional Hospital noted the Top Rural Hospital recognition as a great milestone for the southern Aroostook Hospital. “It’s not every day that Rural Hospitals gain recognition for the important work that they undertake each day. We are honored and humbled by this award.” Anderson noted this is the second year in a row that the Houlton Hospital has received the Top Rural Hospital Award. “Having received the Top Rural Hospital Award repetitively affirms the work that we take very seriously at HRH to ensure the highest levels of patient safety and quality. The Leapfrog Group’s recognition of our work through their unbiased evaluation, just serves to give our Medical Staff and Clinicians a wonderful and timely acknowledgement as they continue to deliver high-quality and safe care each day.”
Over 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, Houlton Regional Hospital received the Top Rural Hospital distinction. A total of 115 top hospitals were selected as Top Hospitals, including:
- 13 Top Rural
- 32 Top General
- 12 Top Children’s
- 58 Top Teaching
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. “We are honored to recognize Houlton Regional Hospital as one of only 13 Top Rural Hospitals this year,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Houlton Regional Hospital has demonstrated that they truly put patients first. We congratulate the Board of Trustees, Administration, Staff and Medical Staff 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. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2022 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC 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.