San Ramon Regional Loses Leapfrog Safety Grade

The Leapfrog Group removed San Ramon Regional Medical Center’s hospital safety grade from its spring 2026 update after changing how it handles hospitals that do not submit its annual survey. The San Ramon hospital’s page now shows “Grade Not Assigned” rather than a letter grade. The change followed a March injunction in a lawsuit brought by five Tenet Healthcare hospitals in South Florida. Leapfrog said it would appeal, but said it would comply while the case proceeds. ### Why does San Ramon Regional now show “Grade Not Assigned”? San Ramon Regional Medical Center’s Leapfrog page says the group is “not assigning spring 2026 Safety Grades to hospitals that did not participate in the 2024 or 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.” The San Ramon hospital is part of Tenet Healthcare and did not participate in Leapfrog’s rankings in 2024 and 2025, according to Patch. Leapfrog’s public page now lists no spring 2026 letter grade for the hospital. (hospitalsafetygrade.org) Patch reported that Leapfrog had initially assigned San Ramon Regional a “C” for fall 2025 despite the hospital’s nonparticipation. That grade is no longer shown as an active safety signal in the current spring 2026 listing. ### What lawsuit forced Leapfrog to change course? March 6 was the date a federal judge in South Florida issued an injunction sought by five Tenet-operated hospitals in the Palm Beach Health Network. (hospitalsafetygrade.org) Judge Donald Middlebrooks ordered Leapfrog to remove safety grades for those hospitals and found the group’s practice of assigning the lowest possible scores to nonparticipating hospitals could mislead the public about actual patient safety, according to WUSF’s report on the ruling. (patch.com) Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder said in a March 8 statement that the injunction barred the nonprofit from issuing safety grades to those five hospitals and required removal of their grades from fall 2024, spring 2025 and fall 2025. Binder said Leapfrog “vehemently” disagreed with the decision and would appeal immediately. (wusf.org) ### How broad was the change beyond the five Florida hospitals? The Leapfrog Group said in its spring 2026 release that it was not assigning safety grades to 450 hospitals that did not participate in the 2024 or 2025 survey. Leapfrog described that move as a response to the South Florida court ruling. (leapfroggroup.org) Patch reported that San Ramon Regional was one of four Bay Area hospitals that did not participate in Leapfrog’s 2025 survey. That left the hospital among the facilities affected by the broader national change, not a San Ramon-specific action. ### What did the two sides say about the grading method? Judge Middlebrooks said the grading system “unfairly penalizes non-participating hospitals” and could misrepresent hospital safety, according to Patch and WUSF. (prnewswire.com) The case centered on Leapfrog’s use of default low scores when hospitals did not submit voluntary survey data. Patch reported that, under the lawsuit’s description, missing survey responses automatically triggered the lowest rating on several measures that could affect roughly a third of the final grade. (patch.com) Maggie Gill, president of Tenet’s Eastern Group, told Patch the ruling confirmed Leapfrog’s grades were “intentionally designed to punish non-participating hospitals and coerce them into compliance.” Binder, by contrast, said the decision threatened patient safety and transparency and argued that published ratings in many industries could be at risk if the ruling stands. (patch.com) ### What safety information is still available to patients? Leapfrog’s San Ramon Regional page directs users to Medicare’s Care Compare site for more information about the hospital’s safety and quality. Leapfrog also continues to publish broader facility information and measure pages for hospitals even where a spring 2026 letter grade is not assigned. (patch.com) May 6 was also the date Leapfrog released its spring 2026 grades for participating hospitals and said it was reviewing its methodology with its National Expert Panel. Lauren Bailey, Leapfrog’s director of communication, told Patch that any proposed methodology changes would be announced and made available for public comment. (leapfroggroup.org) (hospitalsafetygrade.org)