Queen’s Hospital is golden, based on safety report

If you’re a frequent user of The Queen’s Medical Center, the latest report from The Leapfrog Group will make you rest easy. The national not-for-profit organization that gathers various performance measures of hospitals across the country has come up with its latest report card, published recently by the AARP.

Queen’s is Hawaii’s only hospital that earned an A grade for hospital safety. The evaluation is based on how well the center avoids 11 of the most common negative outcomes, everything from a foreign object left behind in a surgery to accidental cuts or tears from medical treatment.

The hospital has adopted various safety-promotion strategies, including double verification when issuing high-risk medications and staff using self- and peer-checking in their daily work, according to the study.

Curious about those with less-than-perfect grades? It’s all online: (www.hospitalsafetyscore.org).

Let’s hear it for the Wahine

For decades, it seems, success in women’s sports at the University of Hawaii was confined to volleyball — but Rainbow Wahine have steadily gained a following for basketball and softball.

The Wahine softball team is 19th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s rankings. It enters the home stretch against California-Santa Barbara with a 15-3 record in the Big West and 38-10 overall, led by All-American seniors Kelly Majam and Jessica Iwata. Meanwhile, Laura Beeman, who was hired as basketball coach from Southern Cal last year, has guided the women to a 17-14 record and a share of second place in the Big West, the first postseason appearance in a decade.

Go Wahine!