Eight Banner Health hospitals received top grades (A’s and B’s) for patient safety, an independent watchdog organization announced Wednesday.

Four Banner Health hospitals, two in Arizona and a pair in Colorado, earned “A” scores while four additional Arizona hospitals received “B” scores. Banner Boswell Medical Center and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City join North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colo. and McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colo. with top “A” grades for patient safety.

The Fall 2014 Hospital Safety Score report was released by The Leapfrog Group an independent organization which grades hospitals on how they protect patients from errors, injuries and infections.

“Patient safety is a guiding principle for all of our employees in the communities we serve,” said Dr. John Hensing, Banner Health’s executive vice president and chief medical officer. “We are dedicated to providing the highest quality care in a safe and healthy environment and are proud to be recognized for our ongoing efforts.”

According to Leapfrog, 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. More than 2,500 U.S. general hospitals were assigned scores in fall 2014, with about 31 percent receiving an “A” grade. The Hospital Safety Score is fully transparent, with a full analysis of the data and methodology used in determining grades available online.
Banner Health hospitals and their top Hospital Safety Scores:

Banner Boswell Medical Center (Sun City): A
Banner Churchill Medical Center (Fallon, Nev.): B
Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center (Sun City): A
Banner Desert Medical Center (Mesa): B
Banner Estrella Medical Center (Phoenix): B
McKee Medical Center (Loveland, Colo.): A
North Colorado Medical Center (Greeley, Colo.): A
Banner Thunderbird Medical Center (Glendale): B

Headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system manages 25 acute-care hospitals, the Banner Health Network and Banner Medical Group, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care and hospice services, and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.