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All six eligible Mayo Clinic Health System hospitals scored the highest safety marks from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit organization that collects and analyzes data to help patients choose their preferred health care destinations:

• Albert Lea and Austin
• Eau Claire, Wisconsin
• Fairmont
• La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Mankato
• Red Wing

These hospitals meet the requirements for eligibility in The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score and earned “A” grades — the best possible — for patient safety.

Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona, Mayo Clinic Hospital in Florida, and Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester also received “A” grades.

“Receiving ‘A’ grades at our six hospitals is a true testament of the hard work, dedication and commitment to ensure our patients receive the best and safest care possible,” said Prathibha Varkey, president of Mayo Clinic Health System. “Our patients and communities expect and deserve safe, high-quality and affordable health care close to home. These grades enhance and exemplify our presence as a top community health system.”

The Hospital Safety Score, which the Leapfrog Group updates and publishes twice a year, uses 15 measures of publicly available hospital safety data combined with additional self-reported survey answers that hospitals submit annually.

“I would like to congratulate our staff in southeast Minnesota and recognize their incredible work to ensure a patient-centered culture of safety,” said Robert Albright Jr., D.O., regional vice president of the southeast Minnesota region of Mayo Clinic Health System.

The Leapfrog Survey assesses the status of many areas of hospital practice, including:

Electronic medication ordering by health care professionals.

Staffing of ICUs by physicians certified in critical care medicine.

Having structures and systems in place to provide a culture that supports safety.

Practices to monitor and maintain safe nursing workforce levels.

Monitoring the proper hand hygiene techniques of staff who interact with patients.

Monitoring the use of bar-code scanning of patients and medications when administering medications in the hospital.