Vaughan Regional Medical Center was recently awarded an “A” rating by the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Guide.

Hospital CEO David McCormack said the success of the hospital is all because of the staff.

“We got a lot of great people here that work hard to do good and provide good care,” McCormack said. “It’s a culmination of a lot of the hard efforts.”

McCormack said he was excited to learn of the rating, and he knows how much work was put in to get it.

“We were very excited,” he said. “It’s something that you don’t just do today, it’s an every day process. It’s never ending.”

McCormack said it is important for people to know that there is quality healthcare in Selma.

“Why go out of town when quality care is right here at Vaughan,” he said.

Patricia Hannon CNO, chief nurse, said the staff at the hospital was excited about the rating, and it’s because of their work that they got an “A.”

“We were very excited. It’s an indication of the great work that’s been done here by the staff,” Hannon said. “They really take their job seriously. When you have people that are doing the right thing all of the time, with or without supervision, that’s an indication of how dedicated they are to their job. They’re dedicated to good performance.”

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said it’s an honor to receive an “A” rating.

“This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections and injuries,” Binder said  in a press release. “Receiving an ‘A’ Safety Grade means a hospital is among the best in the country for preventing these terrible problems and putting their patients first, 24 hours a day.”

The Leapfrog grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to around 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It’s peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public, according to Leapfrog.

“We’re the only hospital in the community, so [it’s good] to provide such high quality of care to people in this community that otherwise if this hospital wasn’t here, they wouldn’t have that access,” Hannon said.

“The survivability of a community is healthcare, and if this hospital was not here, so many people would not have that.”

Vaughan received a ‘C’ in 2015 and 2016 and a ‘B’ grade in 2017.

“It’s not easy to obtain an A. Getting to that point is really such an accomplishment,” Hannon said. “The care that is being provided here is exceptional. Sometimes people don’t really focus on the care that is provided here. The people work really hard to get there and sustain it.”