Florida climbed from 15th to seventh nationally in the latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, one of the biggest jumps in the country amid broad improvements nationally in measures tied to infections, medication errors and patient care experiences.
However, the spring grades, released Wednesday by The Leapfrog Group, arrive with major changes in how the nonprofit hospital watchdog organization handles facilities that do not participate in its survey process.
For the first time, Leapfrog no longer assigns grades to non-participating hospitals. Instead, roughly 450 hospitals nationwide are listed as “Grade Not Assigned,” or GNA, following a federal court ruling in South Florida involving five Palm Beach County hospitals.
ALSO READ: U.S. judge rules Leapfrog's safety ratings were unfair to nonparticipating hospitals
Leapfrog said the court order technically applied only to those hospitals, but the organization chose to stop grading all non-participants because the safety grades are a national program. Eight GNAs were in Florida, including the five in Palm Beach.
Of the 191 Florida hospitals included in the latest cycle, 81 earned an “A” grade, 60 received a “B,” and 40 received a “C.” Two hospitals received a “D,” while eight Florida hospitals were not assigned a grade.
Forty-one Florida hospitals earned “Straight A” designations for maintaining top scores for five or more consecutive grading periods.
That state placed seventh in the percentage of hospitals earning an “A” after placing 15th in fall 2025.
Connecticut ranked first nationally, followed by Virginia, South Carolina, Utah and Montana. Montana cracked the top five for the first time. At the other end of the rankings, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming had no hospitals receive an “A.”
Leapfrog officials pointed to significant national improvements in patient safety indicators since pandemic-era setbacks drove infection rates sharply higher.
According to Leapfrog, central line-associated bloodstream infections declined 50% from their recent peak, while catheter-associated urinary tract infections fell 45%. MRSA infections dropped 42%, and Clostridium difficile infections declined 30%.
ALSO READ: HCA, AdventHealth boost Florida to 15th in Leapfrog hospital safety rankings
The organization also highlighted improvements in medication safety systems. By 2025, 90% of hospitals met Leapfrog’s standard for computerized physician order entry systems designed to catch prescribing errors, up from 66% in 2018. Hospitals meeting standards for barcode medication administration systems rose from 47% to 93% over the same period.
Leapfrog said patient experience scores tied to communication, responsiveness and discharge information also improved after hitting low points in 2023.
“The good news is that hospitals across the country are making meaningful strides in patient safety and helping save countless lives,” Leapfrog president and CEO Leah Binder said in a statement.
Leapfrog has appealed the court ruling that challenged its methodology for non-participating hospitals.
The lawsuit, brought by Palm Beach Health Network hospitals, argued Leapfrog assigned grades using incomplete or estimated data for facilities that declined to participate.
Palm Beach Health Network officials said Leapfrog’s change validates the lawsuit’s claims.
“Leapfrog clearly recognizes that it cannot accurately grade non-participating hospitals, and we’re glad to see these hospitals will no longer be subjected to grades based on made-up data,” Maggie Gill, Eastern Group President for PBHN, said in a statement.
The court found the methodology was not based on actual performance and sought to “punish nonparticipating hospitals as a means of forcing hospitals to cooperate in submitting their surveys.”
Leapfrog has since removed previously issued grades for non-participating hospitals and issued corrective disclosures to hospitals that licensed earlier grades.
These eight Florida hospitals did not participate in 2024 or 2025, and did not receive a spring 2026 grade:
- The PBHN facilities of Good Samaritan Medical Center and St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach; Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach; Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center; and West Boca Medical Center.
- Baptist Hospital in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze Hospital, both owned by Baptist Health Care in Pensacola.
- DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia, owned by the DeSoto County Hospital District but leased to Tampa General Hospital since November.
Florida “Straight A” hospitals
- AdventHealth Apopka
- AdventHealth Carrollwood, Tampa
- AdventHealth Celebration
- AdventHealth Dade City
- AdventHealth DeLand
- AdventHealth East Orlando, Orlando
- AdventHealth Fish Memorial, Orange City
- AdventHealth Kissimmee
- AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach
- AdventHealth Ocala
- AdventHealth Orlando
- AdventHealth Wesley Chapel
- AdventHealth Winter Park
- AdventHealth Zephyrhills
- Baptist Health South Miami Hospital
- Baptist Health West Kendall, Miami
- Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Jacksonville Beach
- Baptist Medical Center Nassau, Fernandina Beach
- Cape Coral Hospital
- HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, Miami
- HCA Florida North Florida Hospital, Gainesville
- HCA Florida South Tampa Hospital, Tampa
- HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital, Port St. Lucie
- Healthpark Medical Center, Fort Myers
- Jupiter Medical Center
- Lee Memorial Hospital, Fort Myers
- Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
- Mease Countryside Hospital, Safety Harbor
- Mease Dunedin Hospital
- Memorial Hospital Miramar
- Morton Plant Hospital, Clearwater
- Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, New Port Richey
- Orlando Health South Lake Hospital, Clermont
- Oviedo Medical Center
- Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota
- Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Venice
- St. Anthony’s Hospital, St. Petersburg
- St. Joseph’s Hospital, Tampa
- St. Joseph’s Hospital - North, Lutz
- St. Joseph’s Hospital- South, Riverview
- Winter Haven Hospital
Florida other “A” hospitals
- AdventHealth Lake Wales
- AdventHealth North Pinellas, Tarpon Springs
- AdventHealth Palm Coast
- AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, Palm Coast
- AdventHeart Sacred Heart Hospital, Miramar Beach
- AdventHealth Winter Garden
- Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola
- Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside, Jacksonville
- Baptist Health Baptist Hospital of Miami
- Baptist Health Doctors Hospital, Coral Gables
- Baptist Health Homestead Hospital
- Baptist Health Hospital - Doral
- Bartow Regional Medical Center
- BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel
- Broward Health Coral Springs
- Cleveland Clinic Hospital Weston
- Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, Vero Beach
- Coral Gables Hospital
- Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine
- HCA Florida Englewood Hospital
- HCA Florida Highlands Hospital, Sebring
- HCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital, Brooksville
- HCA Florida Putnam Hospital, Palatka
- HCA Florida Raulerson Hospital, Okeechobee
- HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital, Niceville
- Hialeah Hospital
- Lakewood Ranch Medical Center
- Larkin Community Hospital, South Miami
- Larkin Community Hospiotal - Palm Springs Campus, Hialeah
- Manatee Memorial Hospital, Bradenton
- Naval Hospital Jacksonville
- Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, St. Petersburg
- Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, Orlando
- Orlando Health Horizon West Hospital, Winter Garden
- Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital
- Santa Rosa Medical Center, Milton
- St. Vincent’s Medical Center Clay County, Middleburg
- Tamp General Hospital Crystal River
- Viera Hospital, Melbourne
Florida “B” hospitals
- AdventHealth Altamonte Springs
- AdventHealth Daytona Beach
- AdventHealth Heart of Florida, Davenport
- AdventHealth Lake Placid
- AdventHealth Sebring
- AdventHealth Tampa
- AdventHealth Waterman, Tavares
- Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Johns County, St. Johns
- Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital
- Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
- Baptist Medical Center South, Jacksonville
- Broward Health Imperial Point, Fort Lauderdale
- Broward Health North, Deerfield Beach
- Cape Canaveral Hospital, Cocoa Beach
- Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital, Stuart
- Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, Port St. Lucie
- Gulf Coast Medical Center, Fort Myers
- Halifax Health UF Health Medical Center of Deltona
- HCA Florida Aventura Hospital
- HCA Florida Blake Hospital, Bradenton
- HCA Florida Brandon Hospital
- HCA Florida Citrus Hospital, Inverness
- HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital, Port Charlotte
- HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, Fort Walton Beach
- HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital, Panama City
- HCA Florida Lake City Hospital
- HCA Florida Lehigh Hospital, Lehigh Acres
- HCA Florida Mercy Hospital, Miami
- HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital
- HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital
- HCA Florida St. Petersburg Hospital
- HCA Florida Trinity Hospital
- HCA Florida West Hospital, Pensacola
- HCA Florida Westside Hospital, Plantation
- HCA Florida Woodmont Hospital, Tamarac
- Holmes Regional Medical Center, Melbourne
- Jackson North Medical Center, North Miami Beach
- Jackson South Medical Center, Miami
- Jackson West Medical Center, Doral
- Lower Keys Medical Center, Key West
- Memorial Hospital Pembroke, Pembroke Pines
- Memorial Hospital West, Pembroke Pines
- Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood
- Memoril Regional Hospital South, Hollywood
- NCH Baker Hospital, Naples
- NCH North Naples Hospital, Naples
- Orlando Health Lake Mary Hospital
- Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital, Sebastian
- Orlando Health - Health Central Hospital, Ocoee
- Orlando Health - Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando
- Physicians Regional Healthcare System - Collier, Naples
- South Florida Baptist Hospital, Plant City
- St. Vincent’s Medical Center Southside, Jacksonville
- Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare
- UF Health Jacksonville
- UF Health Leesburg Hospital
- UF Health North, Jacksonville
- UF Health Shands Hospital, Gainesville
- UF Health-Spanish Plaines, The Villages
