WASHINGTON, DC – The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit focused on patient safety, today released its Spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grade. The biannual Safety Grade is an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” assigned to all general hospitals in the United States based on their ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. These largely preventable problems harm one in four hospital inpatients and cause as many as 250,000 deaths each year.
For the first time, Leapfrog is spotlighting 346 hospitals nationwide that not only achieved an “A” for spring 2025 but have sustained the grade for five or more grading rounds, designating them “Straight A” hospitals. This select group, representing 12% of all eligible hospitals, is now highlighted on www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
“All hospitals should be proud to earn an ‘A,’ but they should not rest on that laurel. Patient safety is a relentless, never-ending quest to put patients first,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO, The Leapfrog Group. “That’s why Leapfrog is highlighting the hospitals across the U.S. that have earned Straight A’s for over two years. Sustaining an A over multiple years reflects a deep-rooted commitment to patient safety.”
Among the Straight A hospitals Leapfrog is highlighting are an elite group of 11 hospitals that earned A’s for all 27 grading rounds —13 years. The all-time Straight A hospitals are Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital (Illinois), French Hospital Medical Center (California), Inova Loudoun Hospital (Virginia), Kaiser Permanente Orange County-Anaheim Medical Center (California), Mayo Clinic-Phoenix (Arizona), Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital (Illinois), Saint Anne's Hospital (Massachusetts), Sentara CarePlex Hospital (Virginia), Sentara Leigh Hospital (Virginia), University of Chicago Medical Center (Illinois) and Virginia Mason Medical Center (Washington).
State Data Trends: Straight A Hospitals Since Spring 2023 and Spring 2025 State Rankings
For the first time, Leapfrog is sharing state-by-state data on the percentage of hospitals that have earned Straight A’s for two years or more. Key trends include:
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The top five states with the highest share of Straight A hospitals since spring 2023 are Utah (29%), Connecticut (29%), New Jersey (27%), Rhode Island (22%) and Virginia (20%).
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States with no Straight A hospitals are Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming and Washington, D.C.
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To see the percentage of Straight A hospitals for all states, download the PDF on our website. Straight A hospitals will also be highlighted on Leapfrog’s free hospital search tool www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
Every grading round, Leapfrog ranks states based on the percentage of hospitals that earned an A in the current Safety Grade. Findings from the spring 2025 state rankings include:
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States with the highest percentage of A Grades for spring 2025 are Utah, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, South Carolina and Virginia.
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Utah ranks #1 for the fourth consecutive Safety Grade round, and ties for #1 among states with the highest percentage of Straight A hospitals.
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Washington, D.C. ranks #11 for percentage of A hospitals for spring 2025, marking a significant improvement after years of ranking lowest among states.
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There are no A hospitals in Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
See full state rankings for spring 2025 at www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
“This is encouraging data, but there’s still significant variation in safety across U.S. hospitals,” Binder added. “That’s why it’s so important for people to consult Safety Grades when making decisions about seeking care. All hospitals are not the same.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventing medical errors and patient harm. It is updated biannually in the fall and spring, offering the public a reliable, independent assessment of hospital safety. The Grades are determined by public, peer-reviewed methodology, calculated by top patient safety experts under the guidance of a National Expert Panel. The grading system is fully transparent and always freely available to the public at www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization celebrating 25 years of driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among its initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 and assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. It is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring. To look up your hospital’s Safety Grade, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. For more from Leapfrog, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.