The University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center in La Plata earned the Healthgrades 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award on March 11, marking its second consecutive year with the honor and placing it among Maryland’s top five safest hospitals. This recognition positions the 98-bed facility in the nation’s top 10 percent for preventing infections, medical errors and other avoidable complications, based on an analysis of risk-adjusted data from nearly 4,500 hospitals across the country.
Healthgrades, the leading platform for consumers researching doctors and hospitals, evaluates performance using Medicare records and other sources to identify standout facilities. The award highlights significant disparities in safety outcomes, with top performers like UM Charles Regional showing lower rates of preventable issues compared to lower-ranked hospitals. For patients in Southern Maryland, this means access to care with reduced risks during hospital stays.
Albert Zanger, chief administrative officer at UM Charles Regional, emphasized the focus on safety. “Patient safety is our highest priority, and this recognition by Healthgrades, for the second year in a row, underscores that we continue making outstanding progress on our journey to high reliability by emphasizing safety at every step of a patient’s experience at our hospital,” Zanger said.
As part of the University of Maryland Medical System, the hospital aligns with the network’s goal to become Maryland’s safest health provider through a high-reliability approach that adopts innovative practices to eliminate harm. This award follows UM Charles Regional’s 2024 Pulmonary Care Excellence Award for superior outcomes in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia.
Healthgrades’ methodology for the Patient Safety Excellence Award relies on objective measures from over 45 million Medicare patient records spanning the most recent three-year period. Analysts build predictive models that account for individual risk factors like age, gender and preexisting conditions to estimate expected complication rates. Hospitals are then rated by comparing actual outcomes against these predictions, with top honors going to those statistically better than expected. The process includes input from a Quality Advisory Board and clinical experts to refine accuracy annually.
At UM Charles Regional, safety ratings show no incidents of foreign objects left during procedures, and 12 key indicators performed as expected, covering areas such as in-hospital falls with fractures, collapsed lungs from procedures, deep vein thrombosis post-surgery, pressure sores, death after serious complications, excessive bleeding, kidney issues, catheter infections, accidental cuts, respiratory failure, bloodstream infections and incision breakdowns.
Clinical quality ratings further demonstrate strengths. Complication-based metrics rate appendectomies, diabetic emergencies and vaginal deliveries better than expected, while gallbladder removals, C-sections, knee and hip replacements, and hip fracture treatments meet expectations. Mortality ratings for heart failure, sepsis and in-hospital respiratory failure also exceed or match predictions, though bowel obstruction in-hospital mortality fell short.
Patient experience, drawn from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services surveys, scores 53 percent overall, 13 percent below the national average. Metrics show 58 percent of patients rating the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10, and 53 percent would definitely recommend it. Strengths include recovery information at 86 percent and quiet nights at 56 percent, both near or above averages, while areas like quick help (51 percent) and staff explanations lag slightly.
Founded over 80 years ago, UM Charles Regional has served generations in Charles County with acute and preventive care. As one of the area’s largest employers with 373 medical staff, it expanded in 2017 with a Medical Pavilion in North La Plata offering orthopedic rehab, imaging and primary care. The facility supports a growing population in one of Maryland’s fastest-expanding counties, delivering compassionate services amid a community rich in history.
This back-to-back safety award reinforces UM Charles Regional’s role in elevating health standards in Southern Maryland, where reliable care directly impacts residents’ well-being. Consumers can review full ratings to inform choices, as Healthgrades stresses the value of selecting high-safety hospitals to minimize risks.