These 36 hospitals earned honors in treating patients with diabetes
The American Diabetes Association and The Leapfrog Group are honoring hospitals who are giving top-notch care to those with diabetes. It’s the second year the groups have presented the awards.
Two years ago, the American Diabetes Association and The Leapfrog Group announced that they were joining forces to recognize hospitals for providing excellent care to patients with diabetes.
Novant Health Matthews Medical Center is one of 36 hospitals being recognized by the Leapfrog Group and the American Diabetes Association for their care for patients with diabetes.
Now, the groups are announcing honors for a second batch of recipients, and they’re recognizing more than twice as many hospitals.
The American Diabetes Association and the Leapfrog Group have announced 36 hospitals as 2025 Recognized Leaders in Caring for People Living with Diabetes. A year ago, the groups recognized 17 hospitals.
The organizations say they want to give public recognition to hospitals, but they are also highlighting the importance of providing proper care for patients with diabetes.
Nearly one-third of patients admitted to hospitals (30%) are diagnosed with diabetes. Some of those are patients that are being treated in the hospital for another illness or injury.
The American Diabetes Association and Leapfrog Group both stress that patients with diabetes can experience significant complications if they don’t get the proper care.
Jean-Luc Tilly, a program director at The Leapfrog Group, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that the awards are gaining more attention and also shedding light on care for patients with diabetes.
“It's pretty clear that we've seen some real improvement there, so we're very pleased about that,” Tilly says. “I mean, that's really the whole goal. The program is to spur this kind of implementation of the ADA standards of care.”
Hospitals earning recognition are meeting the ADA’s standards for treating patients with diabetes, and they are also earning high marks in Leapfrog’s patient safety grades. The Leapfrog Group issues its report cards on patient safety twice each year.
Osagie Ebekozien, MD, the chief quality officer for the American Diabetes Association, said the hospitals deserve recognition for “demonstrating their commitment to patient safety and improving the lives of people living with diabetes.”
“Moving evidence-based standards of care into practice opens doors to improved quality outcomes for people living with diabetes,” Ebekozien said in a statement.
Hospitals need to be mindful of the needs of patients with diabetes, including their dietary needs. Patients with diabetes can’t get their meals late, so hospitals need to pay attention to meal schedules and insulin administration.
"That's really a crucial part that can sometimes get overlooked,” Tilly says. “But those two need to be timed together, or at least thoughtfully arranged in the patient's schedule so it's not to cause any kind of harm to the patient.”
Hospitals also need to provide detailed instructions to patients with diabetes before they leave the hospital, and should offer strong follow-up to see if they are facing any impediments to care, Tilly says.
Health systems should recognize patients are experts in their condition and also allow patients to administer their insulin, if they are able, he adds.
The hospitals being honored this year run the gamut, including academic medical centers and community hospitals. Tilly says the application for the program is meant to be open to hospitals of all sizes and resources.
“We don't want to limit this to just academic medical centers that are bringing to bear some various specialties,” he says. “Almost everything that's in the application is stuff that is low cost.”
Hospitals showed that they could improve care for patients with diabetes without having to pour a lot of money into the effort.
“I don't want to undersell the work that these hospitals have done, because I think it does require that upfront investment, just in getting yourself organized around making these changes,” Tilly says.
“It’ll take some planning,” he adds. “The return on the investment is something you'll see for years and years, in lower readmissions.”
Novant Health and Geisinger each had several hospitals receiving recognition this year.
The American Diabetes Association and the Leapfrog Group will be presenting another set of awards next year. Hospitals can apply for consideration beginning July 1 and applications are due Jan. 31, 2026.
“We're expecting to see many more applicants again this year, and many more successful applications,” Tilly says.
Here are the 36 hospitals earning recognition, listed alphabetically by state.
California
Eden Medical Center
Eisenhower Medical Center
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda University Medical Center East Campus
Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
UCI Health
Colorado
Denver Health Medical Center
Florida
AdventHealth Waterman
Orlando Health South Lake Hospital
Louisiana
St. Tammany Health System
New Jersey
Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Shore Medical Center
New York
Glen Cove Hospital
Plainview Hospital
Syosset Hospital
North Carolina
Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center
Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center
Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center
Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center
Ohio
The Christ Hospital
Pennsylvania
Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital
Geisinger Community Medical Center
Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital
Geisinger Lewistown Hospital
Geisinger Medical Center
Geisinger Medical Center Muncy
Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Tennessee
Maury Regional Hospital
Texas
Texas Health Huguley Hospital
Titus Regional Medical Center
Washington
EvergreenHealth
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