The hospital earned a Leapfrog Grade B; ranking higher than any other hospital in the county.

At a time when patient safety in our hospitals and health care facilities is top of mind across the globe, AdventHealth Ocala has earned a Leapfrog grade “B” for patient safety by the nationally recognized Leapfrog Group, the highest grade in Marion County. When AdventHealth acquired the Ocala campus in August 2018, the hospital had a Leapfrog grade “D.” Improving the safety grade from a “D” to a “B” shows the hospital has done a better job of protecting patients from mistakes, injuries, accidents and infections. The health care ratings organization announced its safety ratings for over 2,600 hospitals across the country.

“We’ve made a promise to elevate healthcare for our Marion County neighbors and to become the safest choice for health care. We stand by that commitment,” said Joe Johnson, President and CEO of AdventHealth Ocala. “We will relentlessly pursue the Leapfrog grade “A” designation and consistently demonstrate best practices for safe and effective care. Our very mission calls us to excellence, and our brand promise is to help people feel whole. We’re on the right track, and this designation has reinforced the passion of our team to fulfill our promise.”  

Leaders at AdventHealth Ocala have continued to implement key strategies to enhance patient safety since acquisition in 2018, including:

• Deploying hundreds of new IV pumps and dozens of teleboxes which allow care teams to monitor patients and medications in real time - significantly decreasing medication errors to patients.
• Implementing electronic health records which allow physicians to place the patient medication orders directly into the computer and allows nurses to scan a patient’s medications prior to administering medications – which has been shown to significantly decrease medication errors to patients.
• Renovating the emergency room to provide all private patient rooms to decrease infection rates and offer complete privacy during care.
• Reinstating safety huddles each morning to ensure all departments are informed of hospital and patient needs each day.
• Training over 2,000 team members on a change in culture to enhance how team members care for patients and each other.  

“This achievement speaks to our culture of safety and the unwavering dedication of our teams to keeping our patients safe each and every day, not just during a pandemic” said Dr. Robin McGuinness, Senior Executive Officer of Patient Outcomes, AdventHealth West Florida Division. “We are so proud of these scores as they reflect the hard work and dedication of our leaders, physicians and staff who consistently make patient safety a top priority.”

Patient safety is the top priority at all AdventHealth locations. This year, all participating hospitals in the West Florida Division received either an ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade from the Leapfrog Safety Group.

AdventHealth voluntarily participates in the Leapfrog assessment and provides full transparency to our hospitals and our data to patient safety experts for review. To see a full list of safety grades, click here.