Not all hospitals give the same quality of care. Patients need reliable hospitals with skilled doctors, nurses, and a system that prioritizes the health and safety of everyone who enters the building. Unfortunately, those in Arkansas may not be getting the best care from their hospitals.
When it comes to hospital safety, Arkansas ranks 45th in the country. Only two Arkansas hospitals were given the A rating—Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden and Mercy Hospital Fort Smith. The Leapfrog Group, a non-profit that focuses on health care, released this report. There were hospitals that earned D grades: Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, Baptist Health Hospital in Fort Smith and Little Rock, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, and Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. Arkansas also has an F-ranking hospital: National Park Medical Center in Hot Springs.
Reports like this help people make informed decisions about the health care they’re seeking. They’ll be able to choose more trustworthy hospitals. The hospitals that receive poor grades may take another look at their staff and the policies they have in place and find out where they can improve.
The lower-ranking hospitals have higher death risks, but the reasons are preventable. Falls, infections, and complications during surgery are all areas that hospitals can harm a patient if they are negligent.
The ratings for the hospitals come from public data and surveys from Leapfrog. While A-rated hospitals maintained their status, some hospitals with poor performances didn’t move in a positive direction or they stayed at the same grade as the previous year, meaning that improvements had not taken place or were not effective.
Most hospitals that get the A grade have a close focus on patient safety throughout the entire group of people who work there. This starts from those in charge and continues to everyone. However, it was mentioned that even in a high-rated hospital, mistakes can still happen. Patients and their families should remain attentive to their care.
This is why it’s so important for you to research the hospitals around you and know the ratings of each one. If the hospital you would normally choose has a poor rating, there’s a higher chance you could suffer because the hospital may make an error while treating you. When these errors happen, you can get hurt. You’ll have to recover from that on top of the illness or injury that brought you to the hospital in the first place. This new complication could lead to a longer recovery time.
If you’ve suffered from the consequences of a mistake made in an Arkansas hospital or medical clinic, don’t hesitate to reach out to us today. McMath Woods P.A. may be able to help.
