bkibler@altoonamirror.com
UPMC Altoona has received an A, the highest mark, this spring from The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization that rates hospitals on their ability to protect patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections.
It’s the sixth consecutive A for the hospital from Leapfrog, which issues reports twice a year.
The hospital also has a four-stars-out-of-five rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and only one “black mark” among 16 illness categories from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment’s latest performance report.
“It’s a significant achievement, especially because it comes at such challenging times in health care,” said Dr. David Burwell, chief quality officer for UPMCs Altoona, Bedford, Somerset and Western Maryland, in a phone interview.