Consumer Reports Identifies Alarming NYC Hospital Safety Statistics
Consumer Reports released a newly updated report in March 2014, scoring the safety of 2,591 hospitals in the United States. With the average score 51 out of 100, safety advocates are disturbed by the 43 hospitals that ranked below 30.
According to CBS News, the report estimates that out of each 1,000 surgical patients that experience complications in top-rated hospitals 87 or fewer die, while the same number of people in low-scoring hospitals have a death rate of more than 132.
Doris Peter, the director of the Health Ratings Center at Consumer Reports, told CBS News that “Higher-rated hospitals have lower death rates, have lower readmission rates, they have lower rates of hospital-acquired infections. So all the things that you don’t want to happen to you are, in general, lower in those hospitals.”
If you or a loved one has suffered health complications or even fatal injuries as a result of medical mistakes or negligence in a New York hospital, the NY medical malpractice attorneys at The Sanders are ready to listen to your story and advise you as to your legal options. All initial consultation are free of charge, with no obligation to you and your family.
New York City Hospitals rate below the national average
Per Consumer Reports, “Of the 50 lowest-scoring such hospitals nationwide, 30 are in the New York City area. The best score from a New York City hospital, the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, was still 10 percent worse than the national average.”
In the New York City area, the five lowest scoring hospitals include:
- Jacobi Medical Center – 68 percent less than average
- Nassau University Medical Center – 63 percent worse than average
- Forest Hills Hospital – 62 percent below average
- St. Joseph’s Medical Center – 62 percent under average
- St. John’s Riverside Hospital – 62 percent worse than average
Infections, deaths rampant at some U.S. hospitals
John James, an advocate for patient safety and founder of Patient Safety America, published an in-depth analysis of fatalities in hospitals in the Journal of Patient Safety that “estimates there are some 440,000 deaths each year at hospitals due to medical errors,” reported CBS News.
James left his position as chief toxicologist at NASA to become a patient activist with Consumer Union’s Safe Patient Project after his 19 year-old son died because of a medical misdiagnosis in 2002.
Another report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, released statistics on the prevalence of infections associated with hospital care estimating “that there were 648,000 patients with 721,800 health care–associated infections in U.S. acute care hospitals in 2011.” According to CBS News, 75,000 of those patients died from causes associated with medical care.
New York hospital malpractice lawyers can help
The reality is anyone can fall victim to careless mistakes made in the hospital by medical practitioners, which can result in a chain-reaction of financial and emotional hardship. If you or someone you care about has suffered from injuries due to substandard medical care, you may be entitled to monetary damages for future, past, and present medical expenses. You may also be entitled to damages relating to loss of income, pain and suffering, and other related costs.
To discuss your rights to legal remedy, contact The Sanders Firm for a free case evaluation. Our experienced team of New York medical malpractice lawyers can help you evaluate your options. Call toll-free 1.800.FAIR.PLAY. Resources
- CBS News – Is your hospital failing? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/consumer-reports-hospital-rankings-show-if-hospital-failing/
- Consumer Reports – Survive Your Hospital Stay, http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/05/survive-your-hospital-stay/index.htm
- The New England Journal – Multistate Point-Prevalence Survey of Health Care–Associated Infections, http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1306801
- Consumer Reports – New York-area hospitals do poorly in patient safety, http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/02/new-york-area-hospitals-do-poorly-in-patient-safety/index.htm
