Fauquier Health named of nation's 'Top General Hospitals,' only facility in Virginia to receive honor

Warrenton-based Fauquier Health has been named one of the nation’s “Top General Hospitals” by The Leapfrog Group, a distinction awarded to only 36 hospitals nationwide this year.

Fauquier Health is the only general hospital in Virginia to receive the top honor and one of only five hospitals in the state recognized by the nonprofit watchdog group.

The Leapfrog Group announced the recognition at its 2024 Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., Tuesday evening.

Hospital officials say the designation highlights Fauquier Health’s strong performance in patient safety, quality care and ethical practices.

“This elite honor reflects the exceptional efforts of the entire team and places Fauquier Health among the nation’s elite in health care. Congratulations to all who made this remarkable achievement possible,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

The Top Hospital designation is one of the most competitive honors in the health care industry. Only 134 hospitals, of the 2,400 evaluated and considered, were recognized for meeting rigorous standards in patient safety and quality care.

Key areas of assessment include infection rates, surgical safety practices, maternity care, prevention of medication errors and informed patient consent procedures.

Fauquier Health’s achievement follows its recent “A” Hospital Safety Grade from Leapfrog for fall 2024, marking its second consecutive “A” after years of gradual improvement.

“Yes, we look at quality, statistics and numbers. But, the most important thing to remember is that quality in healthcare relates to people— human beings that are friends and family members in our community,” Fauquier Health’s Director of Quality Amy Rubio told FauquierNow. “That’s one of the things that we do here at Fauquier Health. When we look at those statistics, we put it in the lens of, ‘This is a human being.’”

Rebecca Segal, who stepped into the role of Fauquier Health’s CEO in September 2022, said the hospital is committed to fostering a culture of safety within communication. 

“When I came to [Fauquier Health] two years ago, we weren’t ready to do great things yet. We really had to focus on our culture,” Segal told FauquierNow. “It’s all about creating a culture so that we feel empowered to make decisions where we’ve acknowledged where we were, maybe grieved for where we used to be and put things in place so that we can move forward and do great things here.”

In order for Fauquier Health to be the best it can be, a strong foundation needed to be built first, she continued. Segal credited the hospital’s success to a collaborative approach, empowering staff, physicians and patients to work together on quality care initiatives.

“The crew at Fauquier Health, the staff, the team, the doctors, the people I get to work with every day, they're very passionate," Segal said. "They do this because this is what they love. They do this because they care about people. They want to do a good job, and that's step one. They've got to want to do it. I couldn't be prouder of this team.”

Looking to the road ahead, Segal said maintaining and improving quality is “a journey that never ends.” 

“The better you get, the better you need to get,” she said. “What we do is hard. That's one of the things that I talk about with my team, is we've got to ‘Do hard better.’ Because it isn't going to get easier tomorrow or next year. The metrics aren't going to get lowered, the standards aren't going to be easier to achieve. This is this never ending journey, because people expect great care and they deserve it.”

Among Virginia’s five honorees, Fauquier Health was the only general hospital recognized. The other four -- Inova Fairfax, Inova Fair Oaks, Inova Loudoun and Warren Memorial -- were named Top Teaching Hospitals.

Rubio underscored the classification, placing emphasis on the meaning of being a “community hospital” and noting that hospitals like Fauquier Health serve unique roles compared to larger teaching centers.

“We’re the only general hospital in Virginia to receive this award this year,” Rubio said. “We are a community hospital, and it's an important distinction. We are in the community, for the community. The community works in it, and we serve the community inside and outside of it.”

Fauquier Health, a 97-bed hospital, serves Fauquier and surrounding counties with a variety of medical services, including a rehabilitation and nursing center, assisted living facilities, a wellness center and physician offices offering specialized care.

“Everybody [at Fauquier Health] has a personal story and reason why we care about delivering quality health care to our community,” Segal said. “At the end of the day, we take care of people. So, to us, we want to keep people at the forefront of what we do.”

Founded in 2000, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization that evaluates and promotes patient safety and quality in healthcare. For the full list of 2024 Top Hospitals, visit The Leapfrog Group’s website.