(Monday - December 14, 2020 - News release provided by Joe Rizzo, Public Relations Manager for DCHS) -

Dickinson County Healthcare has received its third consecutive "A grade" in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, making it one of the most consistently recognized rural hospitals nationally for patient safety.

The letter grades are awarded by The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital watchdog organization, and assigned to all hospitals across the country, assessing how well they prevent medical errors. An A is the highest grade awarded to hospitals for keeping patients safe from injuries, errors, accidents and infections.

"This Leapfrog Patient Safety Award is special because it shows our quality of care is consistently outstanding - day after day, year after year. I applaud our entire staff for their non-stop commitment for bringing the highest levels of care to our community," said Chuck Nelson, DCH Chief Executive Officer. "Especially as we fight COVID-19, it's comforting to know that our systems and protocols protect the health and safety of every patient and every staff member. DCH is safe for ALL health care services right now because our team is truly incredible."

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute care hospitals twice per year. The methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

This award comes on the heels of being selected as a 2019 Top Rural Hospital in the United States by Leapfrog, one of just 18 hospitals in the nation on the list.

"Continuing to earn these recognitions is the result of exceptional teamwork and continued dedication from all of our employees," said Nelson. "We want our community to feel secure in knowing that DCH is a safe place to come for their health care needs."

ABOUT DICKINSON COUNTY HEALTHCARE

Servicing Northern Wisconsin and the Central Upper Peninsula for more than 68 years, Dickinson County Healthcare (DCH) is a 49 bed Community Hospital with a team of more than 60 active physicians and each year treats over 160,000 patients.

DCH employs more than 650 staff members, is one of the major employers in the Dickinson County area and is a large contributor to the economic wellbeing of our community.