These are the safest and most unsafe SC Lowcountry hospitals, new report shows

Hospitals in South Carolina recently received safety grades from a medical watchdog group for spring, with a significant number of facilities earning exceptional scores.

Since 2012, the Leapfrog Group has published Hospital Safety Scores twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, to create transparency in the U.S. health system. The rating is focused on “errors, accidents, injuries and infections,” the group said on its website.

In South Carolina, of the 49 hospitals that were graded, 26 received an A. That’s an improvement from the 21 hospitals to get an A grade in the fall rankings. Additionally, 14 hospitals received a B, while 8 others recorded C grades in the spring rankings.

In the Lowcountry, six hospitals received an A grade, which is the highest possible score.

How are grades calculated?

According to Leapfrog’s website, it uses up to 32 evidence-based patient safety measures, including staffing, culture of safety, hand hygiene, staff responsiveness, death rate and many more.

These measures are used to produce a single letter grade representing Leapfrog’s perspective on a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.

Leapfrog also works under the guidance of an expert panel to select appropriate measures and develop a scoring methodology. The panel is made up of patient safety experts from across the country.

A hospital must have enough safety data available to receive a letter grade.

Here are the Lowcountry hospitals that received A grades:

Lowcountry hospitals that received A grades

• Roper Hospital at 316 Calhoun Street, Charleston
• Roper St. Francis Healthcare - Berkeley Hospital at 100 Callen Blvd, Summerville
• Roper St. Francis Healthcare - Mount Pleasant Hospital at 3500 Hwy 17 North, Mount Pleasant
• Roper St. Francis Healthcare - Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital at 2095 Henry Tecklenburg Drive, Charleston
• Trident Medical Center at 9330 Medical Plaza Drive, Charleston
• Summerville Medical Center at 295 Midland Parkway, Summerville

Lowcountry hospitals that received B grades

• Novant Health East Cooper Medical Center at 2000 Hospital Drive, Mount Pleasant
• Novant Health South Carolina Coastal Carolina Medical Center at 1000 Medical Center Drive, Hardeeville

Lowcountry hospitals that received C grades

• Beaufort Memorial Hospital at 955 Ribaut Road, Beaufort
• Medical University of South Carolina University Medical Center at 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston
• Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center at 25 Hospital Center Boulevard, Hilton Head Island

The Lowcountry hospital with a D grade

This was the one hospital in the Lowcountry and the Palmetto State that received a D grade. A hospital that achieves this score usually performs worse than the average medical facility in several areas.

• MUSC Health Orangeburg at 3000 St. Matthews Road, Orangeburg. This hospital saw its grade get lowered from a C from its fall ranking

No hospitals in South Carolina received an F grade, which is the lowest possible score.

You can check out the Midlands’ hospital’s safety grades here.

This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "These are the safest and most unsafe SC Lowcountry hospitals, new report shows."