Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital was nationally recognized as a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group during their annual meeting and awards dinner in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 6.

Col. Aristotle Vaseliades, hospital commander, said the LeapFrog Top hospital recognition is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive awards American Hospitals can receive.

“This recognition means a lot! Our staff and beneficiaries should be proud,” he said. “LeapFrog is an independent organization that looks at hospitals across the country and evaluates them on their quality and safety. This award signifies how well BJACH compares to similar facilities.”

According to the LeapFrog Group only five percent of eligible hospitals earn Leapfrog Top Hospital.

“As a recognized LeapFrog Top Hospital, we are committed to putting our patients first,” he said. “We’re proud of our commitment to offer safe, high-quality care every day.”

Vaseliades said safety, quality and transparency are prioritized at BJACH.

Over 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, BJACH received a Top Rural distinction. A total of 115 top hospitals were selected as Top Hospitals, including:

•12 Top Children’s

•32 Top General

•13 Top Rural

•58 Top Teaching

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.

“We are honored to recognize Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital as a Top Hospital this year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “BJACH has demonstrated that they truly put patients first. We congratulate the command, staff, and clinicians whose efforts made this honor possible.”

Stacy Hall, chief of quality and safety for BJACH, said 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.

“The survey measured the safety culture across numerous dimensions such as patient safety, infection prevention, medication safety, staffing, leadership and patient care,” she said. “These results are used to advance the military health system in providing ready and reliable care, assist beneficiaries in making healthcare decisions, augment transparency measures and provide tools for system-wide standardization, benchmarking and improvement.”

Hall said we know how important it is for our patients to feel confident in the care they receive.

“I was confident we would be in the running to be named a top hospital because of the culture of safety we have worked hard to create from the command team to the patient care providers and everywhere in between,” she said. “This distinction is an honor and a testament to how hard our organization works. This is just the beginning, we must continually strive to improve and provide safe, high-quality care to our Soldiers, their Families, and our retired military beneficiaries.”

Vaseliades said being named a top hospital says a lot about BJACH.

“Our patients can rest assured that while stationed at Fort Polk they will receive exceptional health care,” he said. “We are on par with the some of the best in the country when it comes to safety and quality.”

BJACH has supported the American warfighter for more than 80 years at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Louisiana. Originally established as a field hospital in 1941, the current facility was opened in 1983 and named in honor of Brig. Gen. Stanhope Bayne-Jones, a New Orleans native and renowned bacteriologist, responsible for the control of typhus in Europe at the conclusion of WWII.

Today, BJACH operates a 20-bed facility and provides medical care to rotational units, Soldiers and families stationed at JRTC and Fort Polk along with a large retiree population.

Editor’s note: The Leapfrog Group was founded in 2000 and is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps when it comes to patient safety. To learn more about LeapFrog Group, and see the full list of institutions honored as 2022 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.