New Jersey hospitals ranked eighth best in the nation in the latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety report card, which gauges how well patients are protected from errors, injuries and accidents.

Released Thursday, the grades show New Jersey slipped from sixth best last spring, and from first place a year ago, according to Leapfrog, a nonprofit founded by large employers and other health care purchasers in 2000 to improve safety and patient care.

Overall in New Jersey, 31 of the 69 graded hospitals earned an A, 24 earned a B, 12 earned a C and two received a just-passing D — East Orange General Hospital and University Hospital in Newark. No hospital flunked.

Nine hospitals improved from the last report card and 12 scored worse since May, the report said.

Linda Schwimmer, president and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, which releases the report with Leapfrog, said every that for the first time every hospital that could have been graded was in the round.

“Concerns remain about some poorly rated hospitals — and we hope the low safety scores will galvanize their hospital leaders to commit to the difficult work needed to improve and sustain quality and safety,” Schwimmer said.

Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston is the only hospital in the state and one of 36 out of the 2,600 evaluated in the nation to earn an A in every safety report card issued since 2012. President and CEO Stephen P. Zieniewicz attributed the successful streak in part to the daily morning meeting with 30 managers who discuss “events in the last 24 hours that presented safety issues."

“We talk about how many days since our last infection, our last fall, and if an area needs special attention,” Zieniewicz said. “We have a team ready to insure (there are) no infections, no medical errors.”

The grade is based on public data and surveys that measure safety and patient satisfaction 28 different ways. Most of the data are based on 2019 information but in a handful of categories, the information may date back to 2016, according to the report’s methodology.

An "A" from Leapfrog — based entirely on data and patient surveys, compared to other guides that rely heavily on doctor recommendations — is often used as a centerpiece of any hospital’s marketing campaign.

The scores do not measure which hospital provides the most effective treatment, but rather how well each hospital kept its patients safe from preventable harm, like hospital-borne infections, and medical errors, such allowing an air bubble in the blood, which blocks blood flow.

Top grades represent lives saved, according to an analysis by the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Patients admitted at D and F hospitals face almost twice the risk of death than patients in “A” hospitals. Even in a B-rated hospital, patients are 35 percent more likely to die from a preventable cause, the Institute said.

Hospitals that earned an A:

* CentraState Medical Center, Freehold;

* Chilton Medical Center, Pompton Plains;

* Community Medical Center, Toms River;

* Englewood Hospital and Medical Center;

* Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley;

* Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck;

* Inspira Medical Center Elmer;

* Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital;

* Jefferson Stratford Hospital;

* Jefferson Washington Township Hospital;

* Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune;

* Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch;

* Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus;

* Morristown Medical Center;

* Newark Beth Israel Medical Center;

* Newton Medical Center;

* Ocean Medical Center, Brick;

* Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, Plainsboro;

* Raritan Bay Medical Center of Perth Amboy;

* Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank;

* Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton;

* Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-Rahway;

* Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, Somerville;

* Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston;

* Saint Clare’s Hospital of Denville;

* Saint Clare’s Hospital of Dover;

* Saint Michael’s Medical Center, Newark;

* Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick;

* Shore Medical Center, Somers Point;

* St. Luke’s Warren Campus, Phillipsburg;

* Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Camden;

Hospitals that earned a B:

* Atlanticare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City;

* Atlanticare Regional Medical Center, Pomona;

* Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell;

* CarePoint Health-Bayonne Medical Center;

* CarePoint Health, Hoboken University Medical Center;

* Clara Maass Medical Center, Belleville;

* Cooper University Hospital, Camden;

* Hackensack University Medical Center;

* Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen;

* Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington;

* Inspira Medical Center, Vineland;

* Jersey City Medical Center;

* JFK Medical Center, Edison;

* Overlook Medical Center, Summit;

* Raritan Bay Medical Center, Old Bridge;

* Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick;

* Salem Medical Center;

* Southern Ocean Medical Center, Manahawkin;

* St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton;

* St. Mary’s General Hospital, Passaic.

* The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood;

* Virtua Marlton Hospital;

* Virtua Voorhees Hospital;

* Virtua Willingboro Hospital.

Hospitals with a C:

* Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel;

* Cape Regional Medical Center, Cape May Courthouse;

* Capital Health Regional Medical Center, Trenton;

* CarePoint Health-Christ Hospital, Jersey City;

* Hackensack Meridian Health Mountainside Medical Center;

* Hackettstown Regional Medical Center;

* Hudson Regional Hospital, Secaucus;

* Inspira Medical Center Woodbury;

* St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, Paterson;

* St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital;

* Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth;

* Virtua Memorial Hospital, Mount Holly.

Hospitals with a D:

* East Orange General Hospital;

* University Hospital, Newark.

Last year, University Hospital — the state’s only public hospital and New Jersey’s largest provider of care for uninsured people — received an F. Since then, University has earned two just-passing D’s. Shereef Elnahal, the former state Health Commissioner, became the chief executive there in July.

University Hospital spokesman Ray Brandes said “meaningful progress has been made over the last year,” but it may take more time for it to appear in Leapfrog’s report.

“In order to accelerate that progress, our new CEO is implementing a proven, organization-wide shared governance model that has rapidly improved quality in similar institutions. It does take time for progress to be reflected in Leapfrog given time lags in reported data, but our commitment is steadfast," Brandes said.

University Hospital improved in some categories and slipped in others, according to the report. Fewer patients fell or developed a hospital-acquired infections, but deaths from serious treatable complications after surgery, and the incidence of post-surgery blood clots rose.

East Orange General Hospital also showed mixed progress, the report said. There were fewer post-surgery blood clots and infections but patient falls and other injuries rose.

Messages left for East Orange General Hospital went unreturned.

New Jersey outdid most of its other neighbors, aside from Pennsylvania, which catapulted from 18th to 6th best this round. New York ranked 47th — down from 43rd in the spring; Connecticut was 17th best; Delaware ranked 23.

An "A" from Leapfrog — based entirely on data and patient surveys, compared to other guides that rely heavily on doctor recommendations — is often used as a centerpiece of any hospital’s marketing campaign.

“‘A’ hospitals show us their leadership is protecting patients from preventable medical harm and error,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes genuine commitment at every level – from clinicians to administrators to the board of directors – and we congratulate the teams who have worked so hard to earn this A.”

Find the entire report at hospitalsafetygrade.org.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.