Infection control among safety issues in metro-east hospitals, watchdog report says
A national watchdog group recently scored some metro-east and St. Louis region hospitals below average for safety metrics, including infections, surgical complications and collapsed lungs.
The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit organization that provides ratings and safety data for hospitals, and it recently released grades for nearly 3,000 short-term, acute care hospitals across the country. The organization updates grades twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
Across the U.S., some safety metrics are seeing performance improvements after pandemic-era declines.
“We are seeing that the patient experience and the health care-acquired infections are continuing to improve,” Leapfrog Group program analyst Alex Campione said in an April 28 interview with the News-Democrat.
But although national averages are improving for health care-acquired infections and patient experience, patient experience measures have yet to make a full recovery, Campione said. Additionally, some local hospitals scored below average this spring for infections and communication between doctors and patients, a key factor in patient experience.
A health care-acquired or “associated” infection is one that wasn’t present when a patient was admitted to the hospital, but developed due to poor infection control.
Leapfrog calculates its hospital safety grades based on a combination of a voluntary survey and mandatory reporting from third-party sources, such as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Seven of eight local hospitals in the metro-east declined to complete Leapfrog’s voluntary survey. OSF Saint Anthony’s in Alton was the only facility to respond.
For the seven hospitals that did not participate in the survey, data is unavailable for some metrics that rely on self reporting. After a methodology change in fall 2024, Leapfrog assigns hospitals the lowest score for some areas that rely on self-reporting when hospitals decline to report. Below, those categories are not listed as areas where hospitals were scored below average, since actual data is not available.
“Transparency is key. The Leapfrog hospital survey is voluntary, unlike some of those other measures that we include that are from CMS, and I think that when a hospital does do our survey, it shows that they’re committed to being transparent about performance at their hospital, for better or for worse. It keeps them accountable for the care that they’re providing annually,” Campione said.
Illinois moved up in the state rankings this spring, with three additional “A” hospitals bringing the Land of Lincoln from 23rd to 20th in the nation for the greatest percentage of “A” hospitals. Out of eight local hospitals, one saw an improved grade this spring compared to the fall, and none got lower letter grades.
Here’s what to know about how metro-east hospitals performed in Leapfrog’s latest grading cycle, plus how to interpret ratings and which areas should be most heavily considered.
Memorial Hospital Belleville
Spring 2025 grade: C
Fall 2024 grade: C
Spring 2024 grade: B
Here are the areas in which Memorial Hospital Belleville scored below average this spring:
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection
Infection in the blood
Surgical wound splits open
Serious breathing problem
Memorial Hospital Belleville and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are both part of the BJC HealthCare system.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Spring 2025 grade: C
Fall 2024 grade: C
Spring 2024 grade: C
Here are the areas in which Barnes-Jewish Hospital scored below average this spring:
C. diff infection
Infection in the urinary tract
Surgical site infection after colon surgery
Surgical wound splits open
Kidney injury after surgery
Collapsed lung
“BJC HealthCare is committed to patient safety as one of our core values. We support efforts to make quality outcomes data available to patients and to the public. We encourage people to seek out data on Medicare’s Care Compare site. We are committed to transparency by providing links to this information on the BJC website,” BJC HealthCare spokesperson Laura High wrote in a May 5 emailed statement to the BND.
“The Leapfrog analysis is based on a methodology that is a composite of process and outcome measures for which most of the process data is obtained from hospitals’ responses to a self-reported survey. We have concerns about relying on methodologies that utilize self-reporting on questionnaires, particularly those such as Leapfrog’s survey in which the self-reported data carries a significant impact in the overall results. For these reasons, BJC HealthCare hospitals have never participated in the Leapfrog survey.
“We believe our approach — based on methodical study and careful ongoing evaluation of outcomes — is a more effective means of improving patient safety and that our rigorous discipline and process over the years has made a significant impact on improving quality of care. All BJC hospitals are committed to providing the highest standard of care every day for every patient.”
HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon
Spring 2025 grade: C
Fall 2024 grade: C
Spring 2024 grade: B
Here are the areas in which HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon scored below average this spring:
Blood leakage
Collapsed lung
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese
Spring 2025 grade: B
Fall 2024 grade: B
Spring 2024 grade: B
Other than the metrics scored low due to the hospital declining to self-report, there were no areas in which HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breesescored below average this spring. In addition to four metrics for which data were not available due to a lack of reporting, there were nine metrics with unavailable data due to unrelated reasons.
HSHS officials were not immediately available for comment.
Gateway Regional Medical Center
Spring 2025 grade: D
Fall 2024 grade: D
Spring 2024 grade: D
Here are the areas in which Gateway Regional Medical Center scored below average this spring:
Blood leakage
Communication about medicines
Communication about discharge
Communication with doctors
Communication with nurses
Responsiveness of hospital staff
In addition to three metrics for which data were not available due to a lack of reporting, there were eight metrics with unavailable data due to unrelated reasons.
Gateway Regional Medical Center officials were not immediately available for comment.
Anderson Hospital
Spring 2025 grade: B
Fall 2024 grade: C
Spring 2024 grade: B
Anderson Hospital scored below average for “accidental cuts and tears” this spring.
In addition to three metrics for which data was unavailable due to a lack of reporting, data was unavailable for the metric “death by serious treatable complications.”
“Anderson Hospital participates in reporting quality information so it is available to the public. It’s important to note that there are many different reporting agencies, each with their own methodologies and criteria for evaluating hospitals,” spokesperson Natalie Head wrote in a May 5 emailed statement to the BND.
“We encourage individuals to consider multiple sources when evaluating our performance. Anderson Hospital completed its triennial accreditation with the Joint Commission in 2024, which is the gold standard of accreditation.
“We are proud to share that Anderson Hospital has once again been recognized by Newsweek as one of the World’s Best Hospitals for 2025! This marks the fourth consecutive year we have earned this incredible honor. This recognition places Anderson Hospital among the top 4% of hospitals in the United States. Out of 410 U.S. hospitals named to the list, Anderson ranked at #250. Even more impressively, of the 230 hospitals in Illinois, only 21 made the list — and Anderson Hospital is one of them!
“Links to national and state programs and organizations that provide these reports are readily available on our quality page on our website.”
OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton
Spring 2025 grade: A
Fall 2024 grade: A
Spring 2024 grade: A
Here are the areas in which OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton scored below average this spring:
Blood leakage
Serious breathing problem
There were six metrics for which data was unavailable about OSF Saint Anthony’s performance. This can be because the service isn’t something a particular hospital provides or because the hospital didn’t have enough patients or cases to report data for a particular condition or procedure, according to Leapfrog.
This was OSF Saint Anthony’s third “A” grade consecutively.
“This is by no means a small accomplishment. It takes a total mind set of being ‘all in’ from our physicians, nurses and staff of making the commitment — and then a daily demonstration of discipline — to providing the safest, high-quality care to those we serve every day,” OSF Saint Anthony’s President Zach Yoder wrote in a May 5 press release. “Receiving the highest grade from The Leapfrog Group for three consecutive reporting periods is validation of the diligent patient-centered work of our Mission Partners and we support the transparency about quality and safety that the Leapfrog grades provide. Our team at OSF Saint Anthony’s understands and embraces the need for continuous improvement. Our work is not and never will be finished. Our goal will continue to be receiving an ‘A’ grade because that’s what our patients in the Riverbend region expect and deserve.”
SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia
Spring 2025 grade: C
Fall 2024 grade: C
Spring 2024 grade: B
Here are the areas in which SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia scored below average this spring:
C. diff infection
Sepsis infection after surgery
Blood leakage
“As a Mission-based organization, SSM Health is dedicated to providing safe and high-quality care for all of our patients,” SSM Health spokesperson Erin Rinderer wrote in a May 5 emailed statement. “Leapfrog ratings do not accurately reflect the most current data at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital - Centralia. The Joint Commission recently gave St. Mary’s Hospital the Gold Seal of National Quality Approval for demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards which reflects SSM Health’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care. The hospital landed on Newsweek’s ‘World’s Best Hospitals of 2024’ list and has accreditations from the ACHE, AHA, AASM, and ACR, to name a few, which shows our dedication to quality care.”
Lawsuits over Leapfrog’s grading
Some hospital officials have criticized the way Leapfrog calculates its safety grades. Five hospitals from one Florida network filed a lawsuit against the organization April 30, calling Leapfrog’s methodology “flawed,” medical industry trade publication Becker’s Hospital Review reported May 1.
Three of the five hospitals included in the lawsuit received “F” grades, and the other two each received a “D.” In the spring 2025 grading cycle, 32% of U.S. hospitals received As, 24% got Bs, 35% were given Cs, 7% got a D and less than 1% received an F.
In an April 30 statement, Leapfrog president and CEO Leah Binder called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
“When we look at these hospitals’ results from Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), we see preventable suffering and death far exceeding the national average, and even the national average is too high. Instead of using their resources to file frivolous lawsuits, they should be improving how their patients are treated. That is the leadership communities expect from their hospitals,” Binder’s statement read, in part.
In an additional statement May 2, Leapfrog officials highlighted areas in which the hospitals involved in the lawsuit perform below national averages, and also mentioned two previous lawsuits from other entities, one filed by an Illinois hospital.
Saint Anthony Hospital, which is based in Chicago, 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.
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.
“Our safety grades really work because we grade all eligible hospitals in the country, not just a subset of those ones that choose to give us data,” Campione said.
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. The full methodology is available online and is peer-reviewed and published by the Journal of Patient Safety.
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. Campione said when patients have a choice, an “A” hospital is the best way to go.
“We know that those ‘A’ hospitals are doing a better job than the ‘B’ hospitals, and the ‘B’ hospitals are doing a better job than ‘C’ or ‘D’ hospitals in reducing infections, providing a safer environment, improving patient safety,” Campione said.
Campione added if she was choosing a hospital for planned care, she would particularly consider scores for patient experience metrics, such as communication with doctors and nurses.
“I think that the patient experience is actually very important,” Campione said. “It’s a great indicator of how comfortable patients felt talking to nurses and doctors, how available they were, and it can have a huge impact on whether mistakes are made.”
Other 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 a hospital, you can see the highest and lowest scores given, which helps in weighing a value. Depending on the measure, the “below average” category can include hospitals that scored just 0.01 points under goal, along with facilities with the lowest possible score.
For hospitals that responded to Leapfrog’s survey, there’s often information available about which areas the hospital has improved in and which areas are not going in the right direction.
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.
There’s an online search tool where you can find information about more hospitals.
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This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
