UCI Health among elite hospitals to secure an 'A' in the fall 2023 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report

Ranking places academic health system among the top 30% of hospitals nationwide

Orange, Calif. — UCI Health proudly announces its 'A' grade in the fall 2023 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, distinguishing it among the top 30% of hospitals nationwide. This accolade reaffirms the position of UCI Health as a premier healthcare institution, underscoring its dedication to patient safety and superior care standards.

Within California's expansive healthcare sector, UCI Health is one of only 87 hospitals to receive this esteemed 'A' grade. This marks the 18th 'A' grade UCI Health has achieved since 2014.

“UCI Health, with its impressive record of 'A' grades, showcases the relentless commitment and dedication of the entire team,” said Dr. Joseph C. Carmichael, chief medical officer for UCI Health.

“Being recognized among the elite institutions not only in California but also nationwide is both an honor and a responsibility that propels our team to continually elevate the standard of care.”

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization with a 10-year history of assigning 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' 'D' or 'F' grades to general hospitals throughout the United States, based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. The biannual Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring. 

Committed to its mission, UCI Health persistently focuses on delivering top-tier care, with a special emphasis on patient safety and well-being. The Leapfrog accolade further solidifies UCI Health's dedication to serving the Orange County community and its broader audience.

“Earning an ‘A’ Grade means UCI Health made a true commitment to put patients first,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff and volunteers that all had a role to play in this achievement.”

Consistently recognized for its quality and safety, UCI Health has received accolades like the five-star hospital rating and a top 10 national rank in the 2023 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Annual Ranking by Vizient, Inc. Furthermore, UCI Medical Center proudly ranks among the top 10 comprehensive academic medical centers in the U.S. for inpatient care, while the UCI Health outpatient care network has been positioned among the nation's top 10 ambulatory systems.

In a 2019 analysis, the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality found 45,000 fewer deaths than a 2016 analysis, based on the prevalence of safety problems in hospitals graded by The Leapfrog Group.

The safety scores consider such factors as:

• How often a hospital gives patients recommended treatment for a given medical condition or procedure.
• The environment in which patients receive care (e.g., whether a hospital uses a computerized physician order entry system to prevent medication errors).
• What happens to a patient while receiving care (e.g., whether care teams left foreign objects in patients while undergoing surgery). 

About UCI Health

UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 459-bed, acute care hospital, listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 23 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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 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.