October 28, 2015

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital has been recognized for its patient safety record with The Leapfrog Group’s top "A" Hospital Safety Score for the eighth consecutive ratings period – the only New York State hospital to achieve that distinction.

Mather is one of only 133 hospitals out of more than 2,500 ranked nationwide to have achieved an "A" grade in each of the twice-annual updates of the scores.

"Mather has been recognized by The Leapfrog Group as the only hospital in New York State to receive the top ‘A’ score for all eight rating periods and is one of only 133 hospitals in the entire nation to have earned this recognition," said Mather President Kenneth Roberts. "Quality, safety and efficiency are primary to the culture here at Mather Hospital."

The Hospital Safety Score rates how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries and infections. It is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national, nonprofit hospital safety watchdog.

The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

In the latest rankings, only 25 New York State hospitals received the top A grade, and only seven on Long Island.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D, or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm. Of the 2,530 hospitals issued a Hospital Safety Score, 773 earned an A, 724 earned a B, 866 earned a C, 133 earned a D and 34 earned an F. To see how Mather’s score compares locally and nationally, visit the Hospital Safety Score website at www.hospitalsafetyscore.org. Consumers can also go to www.hospitalsafetyscore.org for a free download of the Hospital Safety Score app.

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather has earned the prestigious Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.