How safe are Fresno-area hospitals? These spots earned A’s for patient care
Some Central Valley hospitals are among the safest health care facilities in the nation, while others still have room for improvement, according to a nonprofit organization that evaluates patient safety and care.
The Leapfrog Group releases Hospital Safety Grade reports twice a year for nearly 3,000 general hospitals in the United States.
The group grades the health care facilities on several critical factors, including rates of preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections — and the hospital’s effectiveness at preventing them.
In its latest report Nov. 13, searchable as an online database, The Leapfrog Group graded health care facilities across the nation from A to F — with A being the highest grade and F the lowest.
Here’s how Fresno-area hospitals scored:
What are the safest hospitals in Fresno area?
Three hospitals in and around Fresno earned A grades — the highest score possible — in The Leapfrog Group’s fall 2025 report.
Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center, 7300 North Fresno Ave. in Fresno, earned top marks from The Leapfrog Group for having practices in place to prevent errors, including excellent handwashing, safe medication administration and staff teamwork.
The Fresno hospital also scored highly for handling safety problems effectively and having effective leadership, bedside care for patients and specially trained doctors for ICU intensive care unit patients.
Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center has scored consistently high grades going back to 2022, the Leapfrog group said, scoring an A in The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2025 report.
Adventist Health Selma at 1141 Rose Ave. scored an A in the group’s fall 2025 report card for its practices in place to prevent errors and effective leadership, bedside care and communication about how patients would need help at home after leaving the hospital.
Meanwhile, Adventist Health Hanford at 115 Mall Drive scored top marks for handling some infections, including urinary tract infections, antibiotic-resistant staph infection and surgical site infection after colon surgery.
The Hanford hospital also scored well for effectively handling safety problems such as air or gas bubbles in the blood, dangerous blood clots and collapsed lungs, and employing good practices to prevent errors.
The Hanford and Selma hospitals belong to the Adventist Health network, while Fresno Medical Center is part of Kaiser Permanente.
Which Fresno-area hospital got a B for patient care?
Kaweah Health Medical Center, 400 West Mineral King Ave. in Visalia, received a B grade in the Leapfrog Group’s fall 2025 report.
The Visalia hospital received high scores for having practices in place to prevent surgical problems such as blood leakage and surgical wounds splitting open as well as safety issues including patient falls and bubbles in the blood.
The hospital scored slightly below-average scores for handling and preventing infections, including antibiotic-resistant staph infection, urinary tract infections, and sepsis.
The B grade is an improvement for Kaweah Health, which it received C scores in the Leapfrog Group’s previous three reports in 2024 and fall 2023.
Kaweah Health has nine campuses across Tulare and Kings counties, including the Visalia care center.
Which local hospitals got C grades in safety report?
Three local hospitals got C grades in the Leapfrog Group’s fall 2025 report.
Community Regional Medical Center, 2823 Fresno St. in Fresno, received high scores for handling problems with surgery including dangerous objects left in patients’ bodies, blood leakage and accidental cuts and tears.
The Fresno hospital, which is part of the Community Medical Centers system, also scored well in preventing safety problems such as dangerous bed sores, dangerous blood clots and air or gas bubbles in the blood.
However, the hospital scored below average when it came to treating most infections and preventing problems with surgery including surgical wounds splitting open, death from pneumonia or heart attacks and serious breathing problems.
Community Regional Medical Center has mostly scored C grades in recent years, although it received D grades in 2022, according to The Leapfrog Group.
Saint Agnes Medical Center, 1303 East Herndon Ave. in Fresno, scored well for treating surgery problems such as kidney injuries and accidental cuts and tears, and implementing practices to prevent errors, including safe medication administration.
However, the hospital scored below average when it came to leadership, communication between doctors and nurses, and hospital staff responsiveness.
It also scored lower than average in terms of treating most infections and safety problems including dangerous bed sores and blood clots.
The hospital has received a mixture of C and D grades dating back to 2022.
Saint Agnes Medical Center belongs to Trinity Health, one of the largest Catholic health care systems in the United States.
According to The Leapfrog Group’s latest report, Clovis Community Medical Center at 2755 Herndon Ave. received good scores for handling safety problems including falls causing broken hips, dangerous blood clots and air bubbles in blood as well as preventing problems with surgery such as dangerous objects left in a patient’s body, surgical wounds splitting open and accidental cuts and tears.
The Clovis hospital scored below average in terms of treating certain infections, as well as communication and responsiveness of hospital staff, the fall 2025 report found.
In 2024, Clovis Community Medical Center received B grades for patient safety, according to The Leapfrog Group.
Clovis Community Medical Center belongs to the Community Medical Centers network.
How did the Leapfrog Group grade health care facilities?
The Leapfrog Group grades health care facilities on a scale from A to F based on their “overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.”
The grades are calculated using up to 32 national performance measures from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other data sources, selected about two dozen of them and grouped them into five categories to come up with its scoring methodology.
The categories are:
- Infections
- Problems with surgery
- Safety problems
- Practices to prevent errors
- Doctors, nurses and hospital staff
