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Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Our Lady of the Angels Hospital was named a Top Rural Hospital by The Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American hospitals can receive. The Top Hospital designation is bestowed by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers widely acknowledged as the toughest standard-setters for health care safety and quality.

“We are so proud to earn this elite designation for delivering high quality health care to the people we are privileged to serve,” said Rene Ragas, president of Our Lady of the Angels Hospital. “Our team is committed to improving the landscape of health in this community, one person at a time.”

Over 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, Our Lady of the Angels Hospital is the only hospital in Louisiana to receive a Top Rural distinction and one of only two Louisiana hospitals to earn one of the coveted top hospital spots. A total of 105 hospitals nationwide were selected as Top Hospitals, including nine Top Children’s Hospitals, 29 Top General Hospitals, 19 Top Rural Hospitals and 48 Top Teaching Hospitals.

The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital Methodology.

“Being recognized as a Top Hospital is an extraordinary feat and we are honored to recognize Our Lady of the Angels Hospital this year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Despite the extraordinary pressure and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, Our Lady of the Angels has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to patients and to the Washington Parish community. We congratulate the board, staff and clinicians whose efforts made this honor possible.”

To qualify for the Top Hospitals 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 its category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2020 Top Hospitals, visit online at www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.