Mercy Regional Medical Center ranks among the safest hospitals in the country, according to a national patient safety watchdog group.

Mercy was one of 798 hospitals in the nation to receive an “A” grade. The Hospital Safety Score assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals nationwide to provide a picture of patient safety in the U.S. health care system. The service is provided by The Leapfrog Group.

“We are humbled by the national recognition from Leapfrog and attribute our success to the culture of excellence that our providers, nurses, staff and leaders have created over the years,” said Dr. Bill Plauth, Mercy’s chief medical officer, in a statement. “To achieve this, it takes all of us – physicians, allied health professionals, nurses, staff, operations and senior leaders – to create a culture where evidence-based practices are adopted, patient-centered care is the focus and error prevention strategies become practiced habits, performed as intended, consistently over time.”

“Avoidable deaths in hospitals should be the No. 1 concern of our health care leaders. Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ from Leapfrog are leaders in saving lives, and we commend them and urge their continued vigilance,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

The Hospital Safety Score uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to grade more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. Scores are calculated by patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

The score includes five measures of patient-reported experience as well as two of the most common infections, C.diff and MRSA.

To see how Mercy’s score compares with other medical centers, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.