LEWISTON, ME, (November 16, 2022) – Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) received its ninth consecutive “A” for hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group. This national distinction recognizes CMMC’s success with protecting patients from harm and errors in the hospital. CMMC has received “A” grades for Hospital Safety from Leapfrog Group continuously since Fall 2018. 

“Safety is the number one consideration in everything we do at Central Maine Healthcare,” said Steve Littleson, DBA, FACHE, president and CEO, Central Maine Healthcare. “Getting an “A” grade from the Leapfrog Group nine consecutive times does not happen by accident; it reflects the professionalism and high standards all of our team members practice every day. I could not be prouder of this team for their continued focus on safety that earned them this grade, particularly at this time of unprecedented challenges in the healthcare industry.”

 The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on more than 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, injuries, accidents and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. 

“The Healthcare Purchaser Alliance is grateful for CMHC’s commitment to quality transparency and for the hard work of ensuring safe protocols are followed in the care of their patients,” said Peter Hayes, president and CEO, Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine. “Quality is of utmost importance to the Alliance’s membership, and CMMC’s achievement is great news for everyone they serve.”

 The Leapfrog Group has also ranked Bridgton Hospital and Rumford Hospital, both part of the Central Maine Healthcare system, among the “Top Rural Hospitals” in the U.S.   

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses evidence-based measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute- care hospitals twice a year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent. The results are free to the public.