Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Earns Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital Award for Outstanding Quality and Safety

GRASS VALLEY, CALIF., December 15, 2025 – Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital (SNMH) today announced it has again been named a Top Rural Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization. This competitive honor recognizes the hospital’s dedication to patient safety and quality, placing it among the nation’s elite health care providers. The award will be formally presented today at Leapfrog’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner.

This distinguished third consecutive Top Rural Hospital honor comes as SNMH also celebrates its fifth consecutive “A” Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group for Fall 2025. Achieving five or more consecutive “A” ratings earns SNMH the prestigious “Straight ‘A’” designation. Safety Grades, awarded each fall and spring, serve as a criterion for the annual Top Hospital award consideration. 

"I am incredibly proud of this achievement and what it signifies for the peace of mind of our community members," said Dr. Scott Neeley, SNMH President and CEO. "This consistent recognition, including our fifth consecutive 'A' Safety Grade and now the third Top Rural Hospital award, is a testament to the tireless dedication of every single team member at our hospital. Safety depends upon consistency and excellence and these consecutive honors powerfully demonstrate our shared commitment to the health, safety and well-being of every patient we serve."

As a member of Dignity Health, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital contributes to the health system's status as the highest-performing in California for hospital safety. Last month, Dignity Health announced that 22 of its California hospitals—representing over 75 percent of its statewide facilities—earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group. In addition, Dignity Health also celebrates five of its California facilities, including SNMH, receiving Top Hospital awards this fall.

"Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital has distinguished itself through an unwavering focus on safety and quality, earning a place on this year’s list of Top Hospitals,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This recognition reflects a culture of transparency and continuous improvement—one embraced by every member of the organization. We commend their entire team for reaching this outstanding milestone."

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization that rates hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) on their effectiveness in protecting patients from preventable harm, including accidents, injuries and infections. The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is bestowed upon teaching, general, rural and children's hospitals that publicly report their performance through the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and meet the stringent standards defined in the Top Hospitals methodology. This comprehensive evaluation includes critical metrics such as infection rates, maternity care practices and a hospital’s ability to prevent medication errors.

To qualify for the distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in their category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2025 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

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About Dignity Health California 

Dignity Health California is a nonprofit network of over 9000 physicians, more than 35,000 employees, 29 acute care hospitals, and 200-plus care-centers, including community hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Dignity Health California provides award-winning care to communities in five primary markets across the state: North State, Sacramento, Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California. 

Dignity Health is a member of CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit Catholic healthcare organizations, dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. Learn more at DignityHealth.org and CommonSpirit.org. 

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization celebrating 25 years of driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. Among its initiatives, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 and assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. It is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring. To look up your hospital's Safety Grade, please visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. For more from Leapfrog, follow them on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for their newsletter.