The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit that monitors hospital performance, gave safety scores to 248 California hospitals. Out of these hospitals, 17 received a grade of 'D', and St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka was one of them.

Since 2012, the Leapfrog Group has been evaluating hospitals biannually, and had earlier issued St. Joseph Hospital a consistent 'C' grade.

Several factors were taken into consideration while calculating the safety scores. They were based on one of two sources, voluntarily completed surveys or secondary sources.

Leapfrog Group collects information based on outcomes, including 'errors, accidents and injuries' that the hospital has reported publically and the 'process', which is defined as 'management structures and procedures that a hospital has in place for the protection of the patients from errors, accidents and injuries'.

There were total 15 process measures, out of which St. Joseph Hospital did not report on eight items. These were effective leadership to prevent errors, staff working together to prevent errors, training to improve safety, tracking and reducing risks to patients, enough qualified nurses, correct medication information is communicated, hand washing and take steps to prevent ventilator problems.

St. Joseph Administration said it was due to lack of information that skewed Leapfrog Group's ratings.

In an email to the Times-Standard, Tammy Bark, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, St. Joseph Health- Humboldt, said that working to provide perfect care to the community is their top priority, and that they are proud of their track record of patient safety and stellar care in Eureka.

Tammy said, "Like many hospitals, we appreciate any metrics that help us find ways we can improve our care and patient experiences. Because we do not actively submit data to Leapfrog, this report does not provide a complete picture of the quality care we provide to our patients".

Bark had also noted that the Leapfrog safety score is not responsible for the hospital's own internal reviews for patient safety and care.