SLUHN Identified as an Exemplar in Safety by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

St. Luke’s is running with the big dogs. And when it comes to patient safety and health care excellence, St. Luke’s University Health Network isn’t just keeping up—it’s leading the pack.

The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recognized St. Luke’s alongside national heavyweights Houston Methodist and the Mayo Clinic as the nation’s three high performing health systems for safety and quality—further affirmation of St. Luke’s status as a top leader among the largest and best-known health care providers in the country.

St. Luke’s selection—like that of Houston Methodist and the Mayo Clinic—was based on publicly available Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) safety outcome measures and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System survey data. The three high performing health systems were identified from a review of 4,791 U.S. hospitals and 135 healthcare systems containing at least six hospitals.

St. Luke’s was found to be one of three health care systems in the country with more than one hospital demonstrating safety and patient experience performance better than 75 percent above the national average.

“Here’s the simple take-away: If you want to receive the safest care when you go to the hospital, come to St. Luke’s,” St. Luke’s Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol said.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was created when Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999. To better understand what differentiates St. Luke’s, the Mayo Clinic and Houston Methodist from other health systems, AHRQ and its contractors (Ripple Effect and the American Institutes for Research) conducted onsite best practices review visits to two hospitals in each system, observing a clinically complex patient mix from urban, suburban, and rural areas.

The insights gleaned from these visits formed the foundation for The Best Practices to Strengthen Safety Culture, Leadership, and Governance report, whose findings were shared publicly for the first time on Monday, Sept. 22, during a webinar. The goal is to shape a national “change package” of best practices in safety culture, leadership and governance that other health systems can follow.

St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus and St. Luke’s Miners Campus received onsite visits. In the debriefing session that followed, the reviewers noted St. Luke’s unwavering commitment to patient-centered care—from department chairs to maintenance staff. The “speak up” culture and “we fix things” mindset, empowering employees at every level to voice concerns and drive improvements, were cited as major strengths.

Evaluators also praised St. Luke’s purpose-driven leadership pipeline, noting how the organization is cultivating the next generation of leaders to build on today’s success. Hiring for soft skills—like empathy, communication and bedside manner—was highlighted as a key ingredient in St. Luke’s recipe for excellence.

AHRQ’s selection of St. Luke’s as one of its three exemplary high performing systems nationwide builds upon the Network’s record as one of the safest health systems in the country. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded 10 St. Luke’s hospitals five stars, the highest possible rating. All 11 eligible hospitals also earned A grades from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, the only rating focused solely on preventing errors, injuries, and infections.

“St. Luke’s achieves superior quality and safety results because of the commitment to excellence of our outstanding medical staff and employees,” Sabol said. “Straight A’s and five stars—St. Luke’s is one of the few large health systems in the nation ever to receive across-the-board high marks from both CMS and Leapfrog.”

Additionally, this year St. Luke’s was again named to Premier’s 2025 PINC AI 100 Top Hospitals list published by Fortune magazine. It was the 11th time in a row and the 13th time overall that St. Luke’s hospitals have been recognized among the 100 Top Hospitals in the United States. St. Luke’s is the only health network in the greater Lehigh Valley region to ever earn this distinction.

“These objective measurements reflect the fact that safety is baked into St. Luke’s culture," Sabol said.