2 Merced-area hospitals are among safest in US, new report says. See which ones
Two Merced-area hospitals are among the safest medical care centers in the nation, according to a nonprofit organization that studies patient safety and care.
The Leapfrog Group issues Hospital Safety Grade reports twice a year for nearly 3,000 general hospitals in the United States based on rates of preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals use to prevent those.
The group’s latest report, released May 1 and searchable as an online database, grades health care facilities across the nation on a scale of A to F — with A being the highest grade and F the lowest.
Here’s how local hospitals scored:
What are the safest hospitals in Merced area?
Two of the five Merced-area hospitals rated in The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2025 report received A grades.
Mercy Medical Center, 333 Mercy Ave. in Merced, received top marks for having specially trained doctors to treat intensive care unit patients and thoroughly cleaning hospital rooms and medical equipment, according to The Leapfrog Group report.
Memorial Hospital Los Banos, 520 West I St. in Los Banos, excelled at avoiding safety problems such as patient falls and injuries, according to the report.
The Leapfrog Group awarded A grades to both hospitals in the fall of 2024, the Merced Sun-Star previously reported.
How did Turlock, Modesto hospitals score for patient care?
As part of its latest safety scores for Merced-area hospitals, The Leapfrog Group graded patient care at three Stanislaus County hospitals.
Emanuel Medical Center, 825 Delbon Ave. in Turlock, received a C due to its lack of practices to prevent errors, such as medication administration and hand washing according to the report.
The hospital is about a half-hour drive from downtown Merced.
The Leapfrog Group gave Memorial Medical Center, 1700 Coffee Road in Modesto, a B grade for practices such as handwashing and ordering medications through a computer.
One nearby hospital received a D for patient care,
Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, 1441 Florida Ave. in Modesto, scored a D due to unresponsive hospital staff and poor communication with doctors and nurses, according to The Leapfrog Group.
According to The Leapfrog Group, Doctors Medical Center and Emaneul Medical Center “declined to report” its efforts to improve safety in certain categories, such as having effective leadership to prevent errors.
Central Valley Doctors Heath System said the hospitals are “constantly working to improve patient safety and quality care but these false ratings undermine the doctor-hospital-patient relationship that is essential to positive health outcomes.”
“We stand with our sister hospitals, which have filed a complaint in Florida against The Leapfrog Group’s inaccurate, corrupt and dangerous rankings,” Central Valley Doctors Health System said in a statement responding to The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2025 report. “Leapfrog’s scoring system deceives patients and rewards hospitals that either pay them or supply free data for their flawed survey, while punishing those that do not participate with inaccurate scores based on fabricated data.”
How are hospitals graded by Leapfrog?
The Leapfrog Group grades hospitals on a scale of A to F based on “overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.”
The group said it came up with its hospital safety grades by looking at up to 30 national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and other supplemental data sources.
Leapfrog then worked under the guidance of a panel of patient safety experts to select 22 “evidence-based measures” — divided into five key categories — and develop a scoring methodology.
Those categories are:
Infections
Problems with surgery
Safety problems
Practices to prevent errors
Doctors, nurses and hospital staff
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock. The error has been corrected.
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