Watertown Regional Medical Center Earns ‘A’ Grade for Hospital Safety from Leapfrog Group

The grade, awarded for Fall 2024, is Leapfrog’s highest national recognition for patient safety.

 WATERTOWN, WI (November 15, 2024) – Watertown Regional Medical Center received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit group that sets standards for excellence in patient safety and care. This grade represents the seventh “A” earned by Watertown Regional Medical Center in the last 10 Leapfrog grading periods. Watertown Regional was one of 19 hospitals in Wisconsin to earn the top grade in Leapfrog’s Fall 2024 ratings release.

Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. Only 32% of the approximately 3,000 hospitals reviewed nationwide earn Leapfrog’s “A” grade.

“We are thrilled to again earn the top rating for patient safety from Leapfrog,” said Richard Keddington, CEO of Watertown Regional Medical Center. “It’s an honor for our entire team who work so hard to create a culture of safety, and it is a recognition meant to affirm patients’ confidence in the safe and high-quality care they will receive at our hospital.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring. 

“Achieving an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade is a significant accomplishment for Watertown Regional Medical Center,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It reflects enormous dedication to your patients and their families, and your whole community should be proud. I extend my congratulations to Watertown Regional, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts to put patients first.”

The Leapfrog honor continues a series of positive recognitions for Watertown Regional. In October, Christine Kelsey, RN, was honored as one of only two recipients nationally of ScionHealth’s Monarch Caring and Community Award. The highest annual honor the company presents to healthcare professionals who work in its 92 specialty and community hospitals. Earlier this month, they earned the 2025 Joint Replacement Excellence Award from Healthgrades.

Other recognitions include Becker’s 2024 listing of Great Community Hospitals, Healthgrades’ 2024 Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience Awards™, and Chartis’ 2024 Top 100 Rural and Community Hospitals.

“When you focus on patient safety, and providing high-quality and compassionate care, you typically deliver positive patient outcomes and experiences,” said Keddington. “And when you consistently produce positive outcomes and experiences, you sometimes get noticed in a positive manner by national advocacy groups like Leapfrog who regularly assess and rate hospitals like ours to help consumers decide where to go for care.”

To see the safety grades of Watertown Regional and other local hospitals, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and search by city/state or zip code. To learn more about what Watertown Regional Medical Center has been recognized for, go to the Awards and Accreditations page. 

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About Watertown Regional Medical Center
Watertown Regional Medical Center (WRMC) has been providing the residents of Dodge and Jefferson counties in southeast Wisconsin with excellent healthcare for over 115 years. By placing patients’ needs first, services have grown to include Emergency, Primary Care, Women’s Health, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Heart and Vascular, Neurology, Pulmonology, Ophthalmology, and many other services. Watertown Regional Medical Center is a joint venture between the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation and ScionHealth. For more information and to see a complete list of the services offered, visit www.watertownregional.com.

About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. For more, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and sign up for their newsletter.