Medical Centers Receive Safety Grades for Fall 2025
The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog for health care quality and safety transparency, has released new safety grades for hospitals. The organization assesses performance across 22 individual safety measures and calculates an overall safety score determined by a scale which they use to assign a grade.
The fall 2025 grades for MyMichigan Health Medical Centers are as follows: MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma and West Branch earned their fourth consecutive “A” grade; MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw improved, also earning an “A;” the Medical Center in Alpena achieved a “B” and the Medical Center in Midland improved to a “B.” While MyMichigan Medical Center Sault maintained a “C,” this was its highest overall safety score determined by scale in recent years. No grades are calculated for the Medical Centers in Clare and Tawas where measure volumes did not meet scoring eligibility, or for critical access hospitals like the Medical Centers in Gladwin and Standish.
Leapfrog evaluates hospitals every spring and fall using a comprehensive survey to assess that hospitals are meeting rigorous safety standards. Patient experience and safety outcomes data supplied by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are also used. For the 2025 fall grade, performance predominantly from calendar years 2022 to 2024 was assessed. The average national grade is a “C.”
“We understand the new grades are a look backward where Leapfrog is measuring past performance from two or three years ago,” explained Kevin Kalchik, president of MyMichigan Medical Center Sault, where the hospital’s rates for falls and clostridium difficile infections during that time contributed to its “C” grade. “We use that information to compare to our patient care today to confirm we have put the best practices in place here in the Sault, as well as every MyMichigan Medical Center.”
Since that time, MyMichigan Health has strengthened hospital fall-prevention practices and redesigned its clostridium difficile testing protocols for greater accuracy.
“Since 2023, we have had zero falls with the significant trauma that Leapfrog measures for the grade, and we have had zero hospital-acquired clostridium difficile infections at our Medical Center,” stated Kalchik.
Lydia Watson, M.D., president and CEO, MyMichigan Health, commented on the health system’s commitment to providing safe, high-quality care. “In addition to reducing infections and complications, MyMichigan Health Medical Centers continue to score high across the many measures Leapfrog uses to assess quality of care.,” said Dr. Watson. “Whether it’s nurse staffing, safe medication ordering and administration, or our patient safety policies and structures, we’re meeting Leapfrog’s high standards. We’re especially proud of the improvements being made by our Medical Center in Sault Ste. Marie and in all our Medical Centers over recent years. In fact, of the 17 hospitals in Michigan that earned “A” grades, three were MyMichigan Health.”
Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. The biannual Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring and the results are free to the public. Those interested in viewing the full grades may visit Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.
