DELMARVA – When you’re facing surgery or rushing a loved one to the emergency room, the hospital you choose doesn’t just impact your insurance costs; it can influence your recovery and safety as well. Twice a year, a nonprofit organization aims to determine how safe the hospitals you trust actually are.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report for spring 2025 reveals both the successes and areas for improvement among Delmarva’s hospitals in preventing harm. Each letter grade tells a more complex story involving surgical complications, infection risks, and communication issues, as well as how growing communities impact care quality.
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According to the spring 2025 report, five hospitals in Delmarva received A’s, one got a B, and three ended up with C’s for safety.
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This marks an improvement from the fall 2023 report, where none of Delaware’s hospitals received an A. At that time, only TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury had achieved that grade.
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Leapfrog’s biannual evaluation combines over 30 metrics related to infections, safety practices, surgical outcomes, staffing, and patient communication to assign grades from A to F nationwide.
Out of the nine hospitals serving Delaware and the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland—among them, TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, TidalHealth Nanticoke, Atlantic General, and ChristianaCare’s Wilmington and Christiana hospitals—five received A’s this spring. The University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton got a B, while Bayhealth’s Kent and Sussex campuses and Beebe received C’s.
HOW SCORES ARE DETERMINED
The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit based in Washington, collects and analyzes healthcare safety and quality data, evaluating nearly 3,000 hospitals across the country. Safety grades are based on performance measures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hospital surveys, and other data, weighted according to various factors. Hospitals that miss key measures don’t get graded.
The grades issued this spring reflect data ranging from 2021 to 2024, depending on the category. Some hospitals may not receive scores if they lack sufficient data, and those that do are graded based on their performance’s impact on patient outcomes.
HOW LOCAL HOSPITALS COMPARE NATIONALLY
Despite the challenges associated with serving mostly rural areas and expanding coastal populations, Delmarva’s hospitals performed admirably on several national safety standards. For instance, all nine facilities have doctors trained in critical care in their ICUs, a standard that even larger urban hospitals sometimes don’t meet. Six hospitals exceeded Leapfrog’s standard for electronic prescribing, which reduces errors, and all reported zero instances of catastrophic “never events,” such as air embolisms.
However, some local hospitals have faced significant challenges. For example, hospitals in southern Delaware, like Beebe, Bayhealth Sussex, and Bayhealth Kent, reported bed sore rates above the national average. Bayhealth Kent also ranked poorly in patient fall fractures and collapsed lungs after procedures. Even TidalHealth, despite being the only hospital on Delmarva to earn straight A’s, showed a concerning surgical complication death rate closer to the lowest performers nationwide.
Interestingly, for the first time, Leapfrog is recognizing hospitals that have consistently achieved A grades over multiple reporting periods. TidalHealth Peninsula Regional is the only one on Delmarva to earn this distinction, reflecting a trend toward improved patient safety.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY THIS SPRING
This spring, one troubling metric is deaths resulting from serious, treatable surgical complications. Four hospitals scored lower than the national average in this area, while two were slightly above. The remaining three didn’t receive scores due to insufficient data.
TidalHealth Peninsula Regional had the lowest local score, despite achieving straight A’s. Meanwhile, ChristianaCare’s Wilmington and Christiana hospitals reported the best numbers on Delmarva, slightly above the national average.
In terms of infection control, most hospitals in Delaware and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland performed better than expected for infections like C. diff and MRSA, two serious bacteria prevalent in healthcare settings. The University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton scored well on C. diff but not as impressively with MRSA, highlighting the importance of hygiene and sterilization practices, which most local facilities seem to manage effectively.
HOSPITAL-BY-HOSPITAL
Letter grades provide a quick glimpse but lack depth. Each grade is a composite of over 30 performance measures, some based on current data and others on historic information. Therefore, a hospital may excel in one area—like infection control—while struggling in another, such as surgical complication prevention. Tap through the following summaries to see details from each scorecard, trends over time, and insights from hospital leadership.
TidalHealth – A
TidalHealth, which includes both the Peninsula Regional and Nanticoke facilities, earned A’s this spring, with Nanticoke maintaining its A rating from last fall, following previous grades of B in spring 2024 and C’s in 2023 and 2022.
Penny Short, president of TidalHealth Nanticoke, expressed pride in the team’s commitment to clinical excellence and safety practices. Peninsula Regional has also consistently achieved A’s, yet faced challenges with patient death from treatable surgical complications.
Bayhealth – C
Bayhealth’s Kent and Sussex campuses show different trends: Kent has received a C for the last six reporting periods, while Sussex has fluctuated between A, B, and C grades. Executive Vice President Kyle Benoit expressed disappointment in the recent C grades, indicating that they don’t reflect the quality of care provided.
Beebe – C
Beebe has remained steady, receiving C’s in five of the last six reports, and faced criticism for its score reflecting historical data that may not represent recent improvements. The hospital struggled with kidney injuries and bed sore rates but reported advancements in hand hygiene and fewer central line-associated infections.
ChristianaCare – A
Both ChristianaCare hospitals have shown improvement, with Christiana receiving an A this spring. They performed exceptionally well in infection control measures, especially for MRSA and post-surgical complications.
UM Shore Medical Center – B
The Shore Medical Center maintained its B grade this spring, consistent with last year’s score. However, it performed poorly with MRSA infections while achieving the best local score for serious breathing problems following surgery.
