FARMINGTON — Franklin Memorial Hospital has been awarded an “A” grade by the national patient safety watchdog organization The Leapfrog Group.

The grade reflects the hospital’s focus on protecting patients from errors, injuries and infections.

The hospital was one of 798 hospitals nationally to receive an “A,” ranking it among the safest in the U.S.

“Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ from Leapfrog are leaders in saving lives, and we commend them and urge their continued vigilance,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

Developed under the guidance of Leapfrog’s blue-ribbon expert panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign letter grades to more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. 

In addition to the Farmington hospital, nine other Maine hospitals received “A” grades.