Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Ranked Nationally for Patient Safety

Grass Valley, Calif. (September 9, 2022) – Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital announced today that it ranks in the top ten percent of acute care hospitals in the United States based on reporting that measured the rates of hospital-acquired infection and pressure-related injuries. This analysis is based on objective benchmarking and meticulous and transparent reporting.

“Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital is united by a single purpose - to provide exceptional, high-quality care with dignity and humankindness to the people of Nevada County,” said Dr. Scott Neeley, President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. “This has always been our commitment, and I am grateful for every member of our team, each of whom works tirelessly to serve our patients and community.” 

The hospital’s foundational operating rating system, commonly referred to as High-Reliability Organizing (HRO), incorporates decades of experience and best practices from the healthcare industry. This operating system relies on every single employee and health care provider placing safety first and consistently utilizing a common set of tools to achieve exceptional results for every patient.

The transparent tracking of safety events which is a hallmark of HRO revealed that Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital had reduced the incidence of harm associated with medical error by over 80% during the past three years. Their extremely low rates of hospital-acquired infection or injury place SNMH among the safest hospitals in the country. 

“We are proud of these results, but even more importantly, we are so deeply grateful for the opportunity to provide the safest and highest quality medical care available to every individual that comes to us in need,” said Dr. Tyler Hill, newly appointed Chief Medical Officer at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. 

Dr. Neeley concluded, “At Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, our mission is to provide high-quality, compassionate health care for all who seek it, and the High-Reliability Organizing system is the foundational platform upon which we build this care and upon which we create an organization-wide culture of safety.”

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About Dignity Health

Dignity Health is a multi-state nonprofit network of 10,000 physicians, more than 60,000 employees, 41 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care-centers, including community hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. Dignity Health is a part of CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit health system committed to advancing health for all people and dedicated to serving the common good. For more information, please visit our website at www.DignityHealth.org.