NUMC looks to the future, despite D grade in patient safety

Nassau University Medical Center, in East Meadow, received a grade of D in a study analyzing patient safety at 2,600 hospitals nationwide.

The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focusing on health care, recently released the study, which it conducted in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. It concluded that patients at hospitals with D and F grades face a 92 percent greater risk of avoidable death.

Of the hospitals that were given grades, 32 percent earned an A; 26 percent, a B; 36 percent; a C; 6 percent, a D; and just under 1 percent, an F.

The ratings were based on the hospitals’ records of patient infections, mistakes made during surgery, practices to prevent errors, general safety and staff quality, the last of which includes communication practices, training and responsiveness.

NUMC was judged to have a weak track record on patient “deaths from serious treatable complications.”

“Sometimes after surgery, patients can develop serious complications while they are in the hospital,” Leapfrog wrote in its analysis. “If the hospital doesn’t manage the patient’s complications correctly, the patient could die.”

But NUMC scored above average in other areas, earning praise for its “effective leadership to prevent errors” and its ability to “track and reduce risks to patients.” When doctors have made errors that harmed patients, Leapfrog noted, hospital officials have acted to prevent that from happening again.

This is the second consecutive D grade NUMC was given in the study, which is conducted twice each year, in the spring and fall. Previously, the hospital earned a C each time the study was conducted dating back to the spring of 2016, the oldest grade Leapfrog has on record.

Only one other Nassau County hospital received a D grade. No county hospital received an F, and St. Francis Hospital, in Roslyn, was awarded the county’s only A.

Despite the low mark, NUMC is gearing up for what officials have called a “new era” in which they believe the quality of patient care and the facility’s finances will improve.

NUMC recently teamed up with Northwell Health for a six-month period during which Winnie Mack, Northwell Health’s senior vice president of health system operations, is the interim president and chief executive officer. Mack began her tenure on April 22, and enlisted 50 Northwell employees in a five-year plan to improve conditions at the hospital.

George Tsunis, who was appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Nassau Health Care Corp., which oversees NUMC, by County Executive Laura Curran in February 2018, said, “I think everyone is optimistic” when the partnership was announced. Tsunis added that Northwell “brings a level of expertise, a level of accomplishment and a track record of putting patients first and delivering quality medical care on Long Island.”

At a meeting of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations on May 16, Curran addressed NUMC’s grade and the hospital’s recent partnership with Northwell, which she said she believed would bring that grade up in the fall.

“Winnie’s primary concern is patient care,” Curran said. “She’s a wonderful combination of really smart, really nice and is absolutely no B.S. . . . and it’s so important that this hospital succeed.”

To see the Leapfrog Group’s full report on NUMC, go to https://bit.ly/2W8MIr2.