Area hospitals ranked

When Fallbrook Hospital closed in 2014, Fallbrook residents who had been served by a hospital in town for half a century found that they to go out of town for health care.

The closest hospitals to Fallbrook are in southwest Riverside County to the north or south along the state Route 78 corridor of north San Diego County. But how good is each of these hospitals?

The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that represents health care purchasers such as employers, releases hospital safety grades annually. Each of more than 2,000 hospitals across the country are assigned a letter grade from A-F. These rankings are accessible online at http://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.

Here is how the hospitals closest to Fallbrook fared:

Riverside County

Temecula Valley Hospital, Temecula – B

This hospital has received A scores since 2016, but dropped down to a B in fall 2019. It had some problems with infections, including with MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. It also had some difficulty in practices to prevent errors, like handwashing. However, it mostly avoided major problems with surgery and mostly had good communication and leadership from staff.

Rancho Springs Medical Center, Murrieta – B

This hospital has earned C grades in the past and scored as low as an F in 2016, but has recently gotten its scores up to A’s in 2018 and 2019 before dropping back down to a B in fall 2019. Rancho Springs did not fare as well as Temecula Valley in terms of communication and responsiveness of health care staff, but otherwise was mostly similar. Its ranking is a mixed bag, with some surgery and infections problems, but no across-the-board poor ratings.

Inland Valley Medical Center, Wildomar – B

The oldest hospital in southwest Riverside County, this hospital received several C grades and one F between 2016 and 2017. It increased its scores to A and Bs over the last two years. It scored mostly well with infections, but had some surgery problems such as accidental cuts and tears. It scored well in handwashing but poorly in communication about medicine and hospital discharge. It also had some safety problems with bed sores and patient falls and injuries.

Loma Linda University Medical Center, Murrieta – C

This hospital has received mostly C scores since 2016, with a couple of Bs between 2016 and 2017. It had an issue with urinary tract infections but otherwise fared well with infections. It had issues with objects left in bodies after surgery and with breathing problems developing after surgery, as well as problems with bed sores, patient falls and communication from health care staff.

San Diego County

Tri-City Medical Center of Oceanside – C

This hospital’s scores have been declining in recent years, with it receiving an A score in 2016 and dropping down into C territory by 2019. Tri-City had some problems with infection and a handful of problems with surgery, such as leaving an object in a patient after surgery. It scored well in preventing safety problems like bed sores and patient falls.

Palomar Medical Center, Escondido – B

This hospital has improved from mostly C grades between 2016 and 2018 to consistent B grades since fall 2018. It had problems with MRSA and clostridium difficile (c. diff) infections, as well as blood infections. Like many of the other hospitals, it had some reported surgery problems like objects being left in a body after surgery but no across-the-board issues. It scored well in preventing safety problems.

Will Fritz can be reached at [email protected].