Every potential claim turns on its own medical history, evidence, responsible parties, and deadlines. The points below are a starting place—not a substitute for advice about a particular case.
What a D safety grade means
The Leapfrog Group assigns letter grades to many general hospitals twice a year. Its spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grade draws on measures of preventable errors, injuries, infections, and the systems hospitals use to protect patients. A D grade identifies concerns under that methodology. It is not a government finding of malpractice, and a hospital’s grade does not determine what happened to an individual patient.
Four hospitals in New York City and Long Island
The spring 2026 Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens, and Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow each received a D. This is a dated selection of four area hospitals, not a ranking of all New York hospitals or a claim that these are the state’s four lowest performers.
Read the underlying measures and their dates
A letter grade compresses different measures into one result. Leapfrog’s hospital pages show individual scores, the data source, and the period covered. Some measures describe care in earlier years, so a spring 2026 grade should not be read as a real-time inspection. A hospital may perform well on some measures while scoring poorly on others. An ungraded hospital should not be treated as having received a low grade.
Compare other public records
The New York State Hospital Profiles include hospital quality, safety, and inspection information. Medicare Care Compare provides another set of hospital measures. Review the specific service, reporting period, and any later updates before drawing conclusions about a facility.
When an injury may warrant investigation
A delayed diagnosis, medication error, untreated infection, preventable fall, surgical complication, unsafe discharge, or unexpected death may justify a review of the chart. A viable medical malpractice claim requires evidence about the care actually provided, the applicable professional standard, and whether a departure caused the injury. Preserve discharge instructions, medication lists, photographs, messages, and a dated account of what the patient and family observed. Seek immediate medical help for an urgent concern.
Related information
How to evaluate a medical malpractice claim and what evidence to preserve.
This article provides general information, not legal advice. Reading it or contacting Noah does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results depend on the facts and law applicable to each matter.