ARLINGTON, VA — Today, the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) and The Leapfrog Group named 36 hospitals across 12 states as 2025 Recognized Leaders in Caring for People Living with Diabetes. The award recognizes each hospital’s strong commitment to the safety and well-being of hospitalized people living with diabetes—estimated to be 30% of all people who are inpatient nationwide. Now in its second year, the number of award recipients has more than doubled, reflecting a growing nationwide commitment to addressing the unique risks faced by people with diabetes who are hospitalized.
"We congratulate these hospitals for demonstrating their commitment to patient safety and improving the lives of people living with diabetes. Moving evidence-based standards of care into practice opens doors to improved quality outcomes for people living with diabetes,” said Osagie Ebekozien, MD, MPH, the ADA’s chief quality officer.
Every year, approximately 8 million Americans living with diabetes are hospitalized and face heightened risks of severe complications, including amputations, comas, and even death. Errors in medication administration, inadequate discharge planning, or exposure to hospital-acquired infections can have particularly devastating consequences for this vulnerable population.
“Protecting people from medical errors and infections is a major challenge in American hospitals, and it’s even more of challenge when a person is living with diabetes. So much can go wrong so quickly,” said Leah Binder, MA, MGA, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog focused on patient safety. “We congratulate this year’s recognized leaders for their pioneering approach to ensuring vigilance in protecting these people, and we encourage other hospitals to apply to be a Recognized Leader next year.”
The first-of-its-kind designation program evaluates hospitals based on their care for people with diabetes during admission, stay, and discharge. The program operationalizes the ADA’s globally recognized guidelines for the treatment of people with diabetes, the Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025, along with Leapfrog’s standards for excellence in hospital safety and quality.
Recognized hospitals provide safe, high-quality care for people living with diabetes, by implementing blood glucose (blood sugar) testing and hypoglycemia protocols, specialized preparation for inpatient surgery, meals and insulin regimen planning, and robust discharge planning for high-risk people with diabetes. Hospitals are assessed both in the implementation of these processes and structures, and on how well they execute on the standard of care delivered to a random sample of individuals.
Hospitals earning the 2025 Recognized Leader in Caring for People Living with Diabetes designation include:
California:
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda University Medical Center East Campus
Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
Colorado:
Florida:
Orlando Health South Lake Hospital
Louisiana:
New Jersey:
Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center
New York:
North Carolina:
Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center
Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center
Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center
Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center
Ohio:
Pennsylvania:
Geisinger Community Medical Center
Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital
Geisinger Medical Center Muncy
Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Tennessee:
Texas:
Washington:
The applications for 2026 recognition opens July 1 and submissions are due January 31, 2026.
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About the American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization fighting to end diabetes and helping people thrive. This year, the ADA celebrates 85 years of driving discovery and research to prevent, manage, treat, and ultimately cure —and we’re not stopping. There are 136 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes. Through advocacy, program development, and education, we’re fighting for them all. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383). Join us in the fight on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Spanish Facebook (Asociación Americana de la Diabetes), LinkedIn (American Diabetes Association), and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn). To learn more about how we are advocating for everyone affected by diabetes, visit us on X (@AmDiabetesAssn).
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Leapfrog publishes letter grades for hospitals based on how safe they are for patients with the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Leapfrog also sets standards for safety and quality and reports to the public through the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey. Follow us on Twitter (@TheLeapfrogGroup), Facebook (The Leapfrog Group), LinkedIn (The Leapfrog Group)and Instagram (@TheLeapfrogGroup) and sign up for our newsletter.