The Sebastian River Medical Center, a Steward Family Hospital, received a “B” grade rating for Fall 2022, giving them the best score in Indian River County. Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital received a “C” grade rating.
The rating comes from The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit organization that produces a safety grade on how well a hospital prevents infections, encourages handwashing, values patient safety, and follows protocols and standards to avoid errors.
“The grades are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data using 27 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety,” according to Leapfrog.
Sebastian River Medical Center scored above average in preventing infections and problems with surgery.
However, the hospital was ranked below average on safety problems, which include patient falls and injuries, falls causing broken hips, and dangerous bed sores. They also ranked low in communication with doctors and nurses and responsiveness of hospital staff.
In April 2018, the hospital received an “F” safety rating citing out-of-date systems and struggles with the number of foreign objects left inside patients. But when Steward purchased the hospital, they upgraded all the systems.
Since then, the Steward Family Hospital has dramatically improved with its new 90,000-square-foot state-of-the-art expansion featuring modern technology, increased safety, and features enhancing the patient care experience.
In 2020, the hospital announced Ronald Bierman as its new president. Bierman was previously the president of Steward’s Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Youngstown, Ohio.
When comparing the two major hospitals in the county, Sebastian Medical Center scored better in safety than Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. But Cleveland Clinic scored slightly better in the responsiveness of hospital staff.
There are 14 hospitals located within 50 miles of Sebastian. Here’s a list showing all their safety grades.
- B – Sebastian River Medical Center
- C – Cleveland Clinic Indian River
- C – Palm Bay Hospital
- C – Holmes Regional Medical Center
- B – Melbourne Regional Medical Center
- C – HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital
- A – Viera Hospital
- A – HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital
- C – Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in Port St. Lucie
- B – Cape Canaveral Hospital
- C – Rockledge Regional Medical Center
- A – HCA Florida Raulerson Hospital Okeechobee
- C – Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital
- C – Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital
The Leapfrog Group has improved the healthcare system for over two decades and prevented needless deaths. The organization focuses on measuring and publicly reporting hospital performance through the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
The survey is a trusted, transparent and evidence-based national tool in which over 2,300 hospitals voluntarily participate free of charge.
Leapfrog works under the guidance of an expert panel of patient safety experts across the country.
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