NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Amid public scrutiny and recent patient safety protests, Novant’s New Hanover Regional Medical Center still isn’t tracking high on an independent national hospital safety rating.
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Novant’s New Hanover Regional Medical Center maintained a “C” grade in the fall 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Leapfrog is a nonprofit organization that reports on hospital safety and quality, issuing scores for nearly 3,000 hospitals biannually — every spring and fall.
Since Novant purchased NHRMC in 2021, it went from a B in 2022 through 2023 and dropped to a C in 2024.
It remains a C, scoring low on patient outcome measures, but also coming in above average for the implementation of safety systems.
However, NHRMC leadership insists the low letter grade is a “lagging indicator,” contending the C reflects historical patient outcomes from nearly two years ago. Thus, New Hanover Regional Medical Center President Laurie Whalin and Chief Clinical Officer Heather Davis maintained — as did former NHRMC president Ernie Bovio in the spring — it fails to capture the current state of the hospital’s quality.
“Until those patient safety indicators start to catch up and where you start to see more recent improvements captured there, that’s when we’ll be able to see improvement in that grade,” Davis stated.
The Leapfrog grade is calculated primarily using 1.5 to 2-5-year-old patient outcome data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The data is compiled and then processed by CMS over six to nine months before being released to public reporting groups like Leapfrog, causing the delay.
The latest report shows a history of significant risks, including the hospital being nearly nine times worse than the average hospital for the metric “dangerous object left in patient’s body” (data from 2022-2024). Furthermore, NHRMC’s rate of “death from serious treatable complications” was approximately 20% higher than the average hospital’s rate, reflecting patient care delivered between July 2021 and June 2023.
The majority of metrics indicated the hospital is below average or on par with other similar facilities. However, Novant NHRMC scored above average for preventing some serious risks, including dangerous bed sores, collapsed lung complications, and complications from an air or gas bubble in blood.
When asked about improvements on previous Leapfrog reports, Davis and Whalin pointed to progress with patient safety indicators such as patient falls. According to Novant’s internal data, a focus on fall prevention led to a 25% to 50% decrease.
Leapfrog also invites hospitals to submit self-reported information; NHRMC scored 100/100 on computerized physician order entry for medication orders and safe medication administration with bar code systems. The hospital came out on top for having specially trained ICU doctors, as well as on culture factors like effective leadership and staff working together to prevent errors.
Hospital leadership attributes the structural victories to its core strategy including the HeRO Playbook and Vision 2030 plan. The latter is the hospital’s five-year plan to achieve consistent high-quality results; in it is a roadmap to receiving an “A” rating with Leapfrog. The plan is built around five pillars, including safety and quality, health equity, team member engagement, remarkable patient experience, and affordability and operational excellence.
Whalin said the goal is to be proactive: “We know these improvements are happening and this is what we’re committed to, a journey of continuous improvement. That is the culture we’re creating within our teams.”
To specifically improve patient-doctor and doctor-doctor communication, the hospital has focused more on “patient progression rounds,” where staff from nursing, pharmacy, and case management coordinate daily care plans. According to Davis, patient information is consistently communicated and documented on whiteboards in patient rooms, ensuring all family members and hospital team members are aligned on treatment and discharge plans.
“All of those things are helping to improve communication,” Davis said. “While it’s patient experience, it really does also improve their outcomes and their quality.”
Beyond Leapfrog, the hospital utilizes other accredited organizations to paint a picture of its level of care. NHRMC was recently named to the American College of Cardiology’s top 300 list for heart attack care, recognized by consumer ratings company Healthgrades as the top 50 in the country for orthopedic care. Novant NHRMC also has been ranked by industry performance company Vizient as fourth in the country for pediatric quality at the Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Novant also uses Vizient for recording real-time internal metrics, which are not made publicly available.
However, Leapfrog’s persistent overall “C” grade has triggered community protests, such as outside the New Hanover County Commissioners meeting in September. Led by patient advocacy group Cape Fear Five Star Project, residents and former patients provided emotional testimony regarding high mortality rates, lengthy emergency room wait times, and poor communication with hospital staff. The demonstrators specifically demanded accountability for the hospital’s patient outcomes, focusing on Novant’s original contractual obligation with the county.
The 2021 Asset Purchase Agreement requires Novant to use “reasonable best efforts” to position the hospital in the top 10% nationally in patient satisfaction.
After September’s protest, the Five Star Project asked commissioners to require Novant to create a five-year strategic improvement plan with measurable milestones and provide semi-annual public updates on its progress. Commissioners took no formal action following the protest, maintaining their role is not to be the enforcers of the contract.
Speaking with Port City Daily, Five Star Project founder Jon Martell said he would like to see Novant’s internal data to back up the hospital’s claims of improvement.
“We’d love to see it, love to know that you’re making improvements, but don’t just tell us and not give us legitimate data,” Martell stated.
Already with a five-year strategy in place, Davis and Whalin expressed confidence further implementation of Vision 2030 will soon translate into safer patient outcomes.
“We’re part of this community, and we’re committed to this work and committed to make sure that patients receive the high quality, consistent care that they should receive every single time they come to visit us,” Davis stated.
The next Leapfrog report will be released in the spring of 2026.
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