Press Releases: Northern California
December 1, 2010
10 Kaiser Permanente Hospitals in Northern California Honored by National Quality-Measurement Group
Of the 65 ‘Leapfrog Top Hospitals’ in the U.S. this year, 16 are Kaiser Permanente medical centers in California
OAKLAND, Calif. — Ten Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California have been named 2010 Leapfrog Top Hospitals, an honor that rewards medical centers for outstanding success is such areas as infection rates, safety practices, mortality rates for common procedures, and measures of efficiency.
Six Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California also received the honor, which means that 16 of this year’s 65 Top Hospitals in the U.S. are Kaiser Permanente facilities in California. They were chosen from a field of nearly 1,200 hospitals around the country.
Kaiser Permanente’s Top Hospitals in Northern California in 2010 are:
- Antioch
- Oakland
- Richmond
- Roseville
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- San Rafael
- Santa Clara
- South San Francisco
- Walnut Creek
“Kaiser Permanente is widely recognized as a leader in health care quality and prevention, and this recognition is another testament to the high level of care delivered by our physicians, nurses and staff members,” said Gregory A. Adams, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan/Hospitals, Inc., in Northern California. “By blending our state-of-the art facilities and our industry-leading use of advanced technology with our integrated system and our internal improvement processes, we are having a positive — and often life-changing — impact on the health and well-being of our members and the communities we serve.”
“This further demonstrates the superior clinical outcomes patients can achieve through Kaiser Permanente,” said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. “We provide coordinated and technologically advanced 21st-century medical care to more than 3.2 million members in Northern California. As a result we have lowered the chances of our members dying from heart disease 30 percent below the community around us, reduced mortality for patients admitted with sepsis by 50 percent, and dramatically reduced the risk of our members dying from cancer compared to the rest of the nation.”
The Kaiser Permanente hospitals honored in Southern California are: South Bay (formerly Harbor City), Panorama City, Riverside, San Diego, Fontana and Los Angeles.
The Leapfrog Group is a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded a decade ago to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. Initially organized by the Business Roundtable, it is now an independent advocacy group working with a broad range of partners, including hospitals and insurers. The annual survey is the only voluntary effort of its kind.
The 2010 list includes university and other teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings. The selection is based on the results of the Leapfrog Group’s national survey that measures hospitals’ performance in crucial areas of patient safety and quality. The questions Leapfrog asks on its survey are consistent with measures used by The Joint Commission, National Quality Forum and Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.
All of the Kaiser Permanente hospitals honored this year met Leapfrog’s criteria for Top Hospitals in urban areas.
The results of the survey are posted on a website open to patients and families, the public, and employers and other purchasers of health care. It is the most complete picture available of a hospital’s quality and safety. The website is www.leapfroggroup.org.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to www.kp.org/newscenter.
