2 Lexington hospitals see improved safety grades this spring. What to know
National nonprofit organization The Leapfrog Group conferred two Lexington hospitals with improved safety grades this spring compared to the fall.
Leapfrog releases hospital safety grades for nearly 3,000 facilities twice each year, although the organization graded about 450 fewer hospitals this spring due to fallout from a lawsuit out of South Florida.
UK Good Samaritan Hospital and the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital each received an “A” this spring, compared to Bs in the fall grading cycle. Out of seven local hospitals, four received As in the updated grades, with one facility earning a B and two receiving Cs.
Kentucky facilities saw overall improvement in this spring’s grades, with 28.8% of the commonwealth’s hospitals receiving an A compared to 25% in the fall. The improvement brought the Bluegrass State from 26th to 22nd in the nation for states with the greatest percentage of “A” hospitals.
Leapfrog calculates its hospital safety grades on a combination of voluntary surveys and mandatory reporting from third-party sources, such as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Across the U.S., the hospitals that were graded this spring generally saw improvements in 17 measures compared to recent years’ performances, Leapfrog reported, including healthcare-associated infections.
“What we are seeing is really promising,” Katie Stewart, director of healthcare ratings at The Leapfrog Group, told the Herald-Leader in a recent interview.
MRSA infections have seen a 42% decline since the fall 2022 grades, according to Leapfrog, and C. diff infections are down 30%.
Medication errors also saw a significant improvement, Stewart said, and patient experience measures improved slightly.
Although U.S. hospitals generally saw improvement in healthcare-associated infection rates, five Lexington hospitals still scored below average in preventing the infections, such as sepsis after surgery, MRSA and others.
Here’s what to know about recent controversies involving The Leapfrog Group, and how Lexington-area hospitals performed in the spring grades.
Details of the Leapfrog court ruling
In the March 6 court filing, the South Florida plaintiff hospitals cited a recent change in Leapfrog’s grading process that assigned the lowest score in areas relying on self-reporting when the hospital declines to report.
“Put simply, the alternative scoring measures became punishing,” the lawsuit read.
Leapfrog officials wrote in a March 8 press release the court ruling was a “threat to patient safety.”
“Leapfrog is the most transparent ratings system anywhere in the country, with every element of its methodology made public and accessible to a lay audience, with nothing hidden from the public as proprietary or otherwise unavailable,” Leapfrog’s statement read. “If Leapfrog’s gold-standard transparency is considered ‘deceptive’ in Florida, no ratings system is safe from court intervention.”
The five Tenet Healthcare hospitals involved in the suit received 3 “F” grades and 2 “D” grades in the spring 2025 cycle, according to Leapfrog.
The court ruling only affected Leapfrog grades for the five hospitals involved in the lawsuit, but the organization opted to universally apply the new rule of not grading hospitals that don’t participate in the survey.
“The safety grade is a national program, so we do not apply programmatic changes just to individual hospitals,” Stewart said.
Leapfrog is pursuing an appeal against the federal court ruling and reviewing its methodology.
Previous Leapfrog controversies
This wasn’t the first lawsuit posed by a healthcare company against Leapfrog – Chicago-based Saint Anthony Hospital sued The Leapfrog Group in 2017 over a grade they called “inaccurate.” They filed the lawsuit the day before the grade was published (hospital officials receive them in advance of public release) and Leapfrog officials agreed not to publish it, though they said publishing the grade would not have constituted a false statement.
A Cook County Circuit Clerk Judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2018, Becker’s Hospital Review reported.
Additionally, Florida-based NCH Healthcare System sued Leapfrog in 2019 to try to prevent the organization from publishing their “D” grade, saying they didn’t participate in the voluntary survey and received a low grade as a result. The hospital system ended up dropping the lawsuit.
Leapfrog’s full grading methodology is available online and is peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety.
Baptist Health Lexington
Spring 2026 grade: A
Fall 2025 grade: A
Spring 2025 grade: B
Here are the areas in which Baptist Health Lexington scored below average this spring:
- Infection in the urinary tract
- Sepsis infection after surgery
- Serious breathing problem
- Staff work together to prevent errors
- Effective leadership to prevent errors
“Our providers and staff play an integral part in our care of patients, and we are proud this recognition acknowledges their contributions,” Chris Roty, president of Baptist Health Lexington, said in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader.
UK Good Samaritan Hospital
Spring 2026 grade: A
Fall 2025 grade: B
Spring 2025 grade: B
Here are the areas in which UK Good Samaritan Hospital scored below average this spring:
- MRSA infection
- Infection in the blood
- Infection in the urinary tract
- Sepsis infection after surgery
- Serious breathing problem
- Accidental cuts and tears
- Harmful events
- Falls causing broken hips
University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital
Spring 2026 grade: A
Fall 2025 grade: B
Spring 2025 grade: B
Here are the areas in which University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital scored below average this spring:
- Sepsis infection after surgery
- Serious breathing problem
- Accidental cuts and tears
- Harmful events
- Falls causing broken hips
“The quality of care and safety of our patients is our most important priority, and the latest Leapfrog ‘A’ grades for both UK Chandler Hospital and UK Good Samaritan Hospital reflect the sustained, meaningful work our teams have put in to advance that commitment,” Allison Perry, spokesperson for UK HealthCare, wrote in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader. “The academic health system of UK HealthCare provides high-acuity care for Kentuckians with the most complex health needs, and we remain committed to continuously improving the safety and quality of care we deliver to the people of the Commonwealth.”
Saint Joseph Hospital
Spring 2026 grade: C
Fall 2025 grade: C
Spring 2025 grade: C
Here are the areas in which Saint Joseph Hospital scored below average this spring:
- Infection in the blood
- Sepsis infection after surgery
- Dangerous object left in patient’s body
- Serious breathing problem
- Accidental cuts and tears
- Harmful events
- Collapsed lung
- Dangerous blood clot
- Communication with nurses
Saint Joseph East
Spring 2026 grade: C
Fall 2025 grade: C
Spring 2025 grade: C
Here are the areas in which Saint Joseph East scored below average this spring:
- Patient falls and injuries
- Communication about medicines
- Communication about discharge
- Nursing and bedside care for patients
- Communication with doctors
- Communication with nurses
- Responsiveness of hospital staff
Data was unavailable for five categories, for reasons unrelated to any lack of reporting.
The Herald-Leader has contacted staff with CHI Saint Joseph Health for comment about the Leapfrog grades assigned to Saint Joseph Hospital and Saint Joseph East.
Centerpoint Health – Georgetown
Spring 2026 grade: B
Fall 2025 grade: B (as Georgetown Community Hospital)
Spring 2025 grade: B (as Georgetown Community Hospital)
Centerpoint Health - Georgetown, formerly Georgetown Community Hospital, scored below average for one metric this spring, patient falls and injuries. Data was unavailable for five categories, for reasons unrelated to any lack of reporting.
Centerpoint Health – Winchester
Spring 2026 grade: A
Fall 2025 grade: A (as Clark Regional Medical Center)
Spring 2025 grade: A (as Clark Regional Medical Center)
Here are the areas in which Centerpoint Health - Winchester, formerly Clark Regional Medical Center, performed below average this spring:
- MRSA infection
- Specially trained doctors care for intensive care unit patients
Data was unavailable for two categories, for reasons unrelated to any lack of reporting.
“Although our name has changed to Centerpoint Health, our commitment to quality, patient safety and clinical excellence remains stronger than ever,” Bruce Tassin, market president for Centerpoint Health, wrote in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader. “Earning a fourth consecutive ‘A’ Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade at Centerpoint Health - Winchester (formerly Clark Regional Medical Center) and a ‘B’ grade at Centerpoint Health - Georgetown (formerly Georgetown Community Hospital) reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses and team members across Central Kentucky. As we continue bringing our hospitals in Georgetown, Paris, Versailles and Winchester together under one unified health system, we are focused on sharing best practices, strengthening collaboration and ensuring every patient receives high-quality care close to home.”
How are hospital grades calculated?
Safety grades are calculated using up to 22 national safety measures from the Leapfrog survey, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other data sources.
Grades are composed 50% by process and structural measures and 50% by outcome measures. The scoring scales differ by the chosen measure.
Leapfrog emphasizes you should not refuse emergency care based on hospital ratings. The group intends the scores to be used when planning things like childbirth, surgery referrals or chronic illness treatment.
Some of the areas you should pay special attention to when choosing a hospital include hand-washing, infection in the blood and patient falls, Leapfrog’s website says.
You should also consider how far off your hospital was from the average for any given standard. When evaluating, you can see the highest and lowest scores given, which helps in weighing a value.
A hospital being ungraded does not denote a lack of safety. Ratings are often unavailable for smaller providers, children’s hospitals, surgical centers and critical access hospitals. Leapfrog allows you to search for hospitals by name, location or state.
What other tools are available to evaluate hospitals?
Leapfrog represents one of several options patients have to evaluate hospitals for planned care.
Additional resources include U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. News & World Report and Healthgrades.
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