New Jersey keeps 3rd-place ranking for hospital safety

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The basics:

• New Jersey places 3rd nationwide in Leapfrog’s Fall 2025 Hospital Safety Grade
• More than half of the state’s hospitals earned an A grade
• 17 New Jersey hospitals achieved “Straight A” status
• All New Jersey hospitals participated, marking 100% involvement

New Jersey maintained its ranking on the Fall 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, placing third nationwide for the number of “A”-graded facilities in the state.

More than half of Garden State facilities earn an A mark, according to the Nov. 13 release. New Jersey also holds distinction as having the country’s highest participation rate in the program at 100%.

Released biannually by independent nonprofit The Leapfrog Group, the Safety Grade assessment assigns a letter mark, from A–F, reflecting how well acute-care hospitals protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections. For the fifth-consecutive round, Utah ranked first nationwide.

According to Leapfrog, preventable problems harm 1 in 4 hospital inpatients. Additionally, they cause as many as 250,000 deaths each year, the group said.

Report card

In total, 67 New Jersey hospitals took part in the evaluation. Two hospitals did not receive a safety grade because there was not enough data available: Bergen New Bridge Medical Center and The Heights University Hospital (formerly CarePoint Health Christ Hospital).

Most participants (56 facilities) saw no changes from the last Leapfrog marks, released earlier this year. Also continuing a trend from the spring: no New Jersey hospitals received an F grade in this latest release.

The breakdown:

A – 35 hospitals (52%)
one fewer than spring

B – 21 hospitals (31%)
three more than spring

C – 10 hospitals (15%)
two fewer than spring

D – 1 hospital (1%)
one more than spring

F – 0 hospitals
same as spring

The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute serves as regional leader for Leapfrog.

“We are proud of the commitment to transparency and safety shown by our New Jersey hospitals,” said Adelisa Perez-Hudgins, vice president of quality at the Quality Institute. “We congratulate our ‘A’ hospitals and continue to support all hospitals working to improve patient outcomes and experiences.”

Seventeen from New Jersey are “Straight A” facilities — those earning the highest mark for five rounds or more:

• Community Medical Center RWJBarnabas Health
• Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
• Hackensack University Medica Center Hackensack Meridian Health
• Jersey Shore Medical Center Hackensack Meridian Health
• Ocean University Medical Center Hackensack Meridian Health
• Hunterdon Medical Center
• Inspira Medical Center Elmer Inspira Health Network
• Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill Inspira Health Network
• Jefferson Washington Township Hospital Jefferson Health – New Jersey
• Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus RWJBarnabas Health
• Morristown Medical Center Atlantic Health System
• Overlook Medical Center Atlantic Health System
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway RWJBarnabas Health
• St. Luke’s Warren Campus St. Luke’s University Health Network
• St. Mary’s General Hospital Prime Healthcare Services
• Virtua Marlton Hospital Virtua Health
• Virtua Voorhees Hospital Virtua Health

Five hospitals improved their grade over 2025’s earlier assessment:

• CentraState Medical Center – C to B
  Atlantic Health System
• Raritan Bay Medical Center –B to A
  Hackensack Meridian Health
• Newton Medical Center – B to A
  Atlantic Health System
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital – C to B
  RWJBarnabas Health
• Trinitas Regional Medical Center – B to A
  RWJBarnabas Health

Meanwhile, grades fell at six hospitals:

• Atlanticare Regional Medical Center – City Campus – B to C
  AtlantiCare
• CareWell Health Medical Center – C to D
• Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center – A to B
  RWJBarnabas Health
• Inspira Medical Center Vineland – A to B
  Inspira Health Network
• Saint Clare’s Hospital of Dover – A to B
  Saint Clares Health, System Parent: Prime Healthcare Services
• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital – A to B
  Virtua Health 

According to the New Jersey Hospital Association, statewide facilities care for more than 18 million patients each year, including 983,000 inpatient admissions.

Bigger is better?

The Leapfrog Group celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. President and CEO Leah Binder described the Safety Grade as a cornerstone of the organization’s efforts to improve health care.

For the first time, the Fall 2025 release also takes a look at how industry consolidation affects patient safety. The phenomenon is familiar in New Jersey, where combinations have reducted the number of independent facilities in recent years.

Of all facilities taking part in the survey, Leapfrog said 90% of hospitals are part of a larger health care system. The organization noted that among A earners, the instances of this kind of affiliation were slightly higher (94%). Additionally, among the 358 “Straight A” hospitals 95% are part of a larger organization.

Eleven hospitals have earned an A grade for each round since the program launched in 2012. All are affiliated with health systems. None operate in New Jersey.

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades are assigned to nearly 3,000 general acute-care hospitals across the nation in the spring and fall. The Safety Grade uses up to 22 national patient safety measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, along with information from other supplemental data sources.