SEBASTIAN – The Sebastian River Medical Center was given an F rating this week by The Leapfrog Group.

The Leapfrog Group is a firm that scores hospitals on their overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.

“The grades are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data using 27 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety,” according to group’s website.

What’s troubling in the report about the Sebastian River Medical Center is that only two hospitals in the state of Florida received an F rating, one being in our local town.

Sebastian Daily reached out to the hospital for comment, but their public relations person is out of town. No one else wanted to speak about the grade.

There are a number of reasons cited for the failing grade, one being a lack of communication and the fact this hospital doesn’t have the up-to-date system for medication to prevent prescription mistakes.

The Sebastian hospital is also struggling with the number of foreign objects left inside of a patient during a surgery, according to Erica Mobley, the Director of Operation at The Leapfrog Group.

The next grading for the Sebastian River Medical Center will be in October.

Mobley also said that hospitals who get an A grade do have mistakes, but she tells patients to research a medical center or hospital before they go there.

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