FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — The General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital has been named a 2025 Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital, marking the first year the hospital has earned national recognition for excellence in patient safety and quality of care.
The Leapfrog Top Hospital designation is awarded annually to hospitals that demonstrate the highest performance nationwide on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which evaluates key measures such as infection prevention, medication safety, maternity care quality, ethical billing practices, informed patient consent, and surgical safety. To be eligible, hospitals must also earn an “A” grade in the most recent Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.
GLWACH was one of 156 hospitals nationwide to earn a 2025 Leapfrog Top Hospital designation. Across the Military Health System, it was one of only 13 military medical treatment facilities recognized with a Leapfrog Top Hospital or Top Ambulatory Surgery Center award this year. GLWACH was also among only 16 rural hospitals nationwide to receive the distinction and the only rural hospital in Missouri to earn Top Hospital recognition.
“This recognition reflects the highest standards of patient safety and quality,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It takes leadership, teamwork and absolute dedication to patients to achieve this award.”
For patients and families, the designation signals that GLWACH has strong systems in place to prevent medical errors, reduce infections, and deliver safe, high-quality care across inpatient and outpatient services. This award honors hospitals and ASCs that demonstrate the highest performance in the nation on quality and patient safety, including ethical billing and informed patient consent procedures, lower infection rates, prevention of medication errors and surgical safety, according to the Leapfrog Group website.
Col. Angela R. Diebal-Lee, hospital director, said the Top Hospital recognition reflects GLWACH’s commitment to safe, reliable care.
“Earning the Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital award is an incredible honor and a testament to our team's unwavering commitment to our patients. This recognition is not for one single action, but for the thousands of moments of compassionate, safe care that our staff provides every single day,” Diebal-Lee said. “Our dedication to patient safety is woven into the fabric of everything we do. This award affirms that our daily efforts are making a difference, and it inspires us to continue striving for excellence in every patient interaction.”
“At its core, our approach to patient safety is deeply personal,” said Shauna Peterson, a registered nurse and quality management chief at GLWACH. “My nursing background has taught me that while data is essential for identifying potential problems, it's the wisdom of our clinical team that leads to real solutions,” We understand that behind every metric is a person who trusts us with their care, and our purpose is to honor that trust by creating a system that keeps them safe and supports our dedicated staff.”
The 2025 Leapfrog Top Hospitals were announced Dec. 15 during the 2025 Leapfrog Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner at the Gaylord National Harbor outside Washington, D.C., commemorating Leapfrog’s 25th anniversary and its mission to improve health care safety through transparency. Founded in 2000, The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit organization that sets standards for health care, safety and quality and publicly reports performance through its annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
| Date Taken: |
01.09.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
01.14.2026 09:55 |
| Story ID: |
556194 |
| Location: |
MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: |
334 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital Earns Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital Recognition, by Debra Thompson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
