C.A. Dean earns second Leapfrog award

Contributed Article
    GREENVILLE — For the second year in a row, The Leapfrog Group has named Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital in Greenville to its annual list of top hospitals.
    An elite distinction awarded to hospitals nationwide for demonstrating excellence in hospital safety and quality, the Leapfrog Top Hospital award is given to less than 7 percent of all eligible hospitals.

    “Leapfrog’s Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious distinctions any hospital can achieve in the United States,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It recognizes institutions for their excellence in quality of care and patient safety, as well as their commitment to transparency. By achieving Top Hospital status, Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital has proven it’s a premier institution and deserves to be recognized for its dedication to the families and patients in Greenville.”
    C. A. Dean is a 25-bed critical access hospital with acute, skilled, and nursing facility beds. It also provides 24-hour emergency medical services including an ambulance and a full service emergency department, three family practice locations, diagnostic services, laboratory, digital imaging, CT scan, ultrasound, mammography and rehabilitation services as well as podiatry and general and orthopedic surgery. C.A. Dean is a member of Eastern Maine Healthcare System.
    The selection is based on the results of The Leapfrog Group’s annual hospital survey, which measures hospitals’ performance on patient safety and quality, focusing on three critical areas of hospital care: how patients fare, resource use and management structures established to prevent errors.
    Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including rates for high-risk procedures and a hospital’s ability to prevent medication errors.
    C.A. Dean was one of nine hospitals in Maine to earn the Top Hospital award. The others are Inland Hospital in Waterville, Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Calais Regional Hospital, Houlton Regional Hospital, Lincoln Health in Boothbay Harbor, Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockland and Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.
    The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals.