UC San Diego Health Ranks #1 Regionally by U.S. News & World Report

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According to the 2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” survey, UC San Diego Health has once again ranked #1 in San Diego and #5 in California, placing it among the nation’s best health care providers. Designed to assist patients and doctors in making informed health care decisions, these annual rankings distinguish hospitals that excel in providing multidisciplinary, comprehensive care for the most challenging health conditions.

“These prestigious data-driven rankings are a tremendous honor and validation of our daily commitment to providing world-class medical and surgical care to our patients,” said Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health. “Our extraordinary teams are ambassadors of good health, committed to helping all patients experience the very best possible care.”

“UC San Diego is proud to be home to the region’s only academic medical center where science, compassion and clinical care intersect to provide superb patient outcomes,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “These rankings are proof that our physicians, nurses, scientists, technicians and teams are unified in providing care that is unparalleled.”

For the 2022-2023 rankings and ratings, U.S. News & World Report evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals across 15 specialties and 20 procedures and conditions. In the 15 specialties, 164 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty. Among these, UC San Diego Health ranked in 10 specialties:

• Pulmonology and Lung Surgery (10)
• Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (11)
• Geriatrics (11)
• Urology (16)
• Cancer (20)
• Cardiology and Heart Surgery (21)
• Ear, Nose and Throat (21)
• Neurology and Neurosurgery (21)
• Obstetrics and Gynecology (26)
• Orthopedics (39)

UC San Diego Health is also rated as “high performing” in 17 common procedures and conditions, which cover a spectrum of care from heart procedures and stroke care, to orthopedic and cancer surgeries, including three conditions added this year: uterine cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer.

“UC San Diego Health provides treatment for the most complex cases in the region, and our rankings are evidence that local community members never need to leave San Diego for world-class care,” said Chris Longhurst, MD, chief medical officer at UC San Diego Health. “Our expert teams are driven to continuously improve care through early and accurate diagnostics and access to the best possible treatments, including clinical trials.”

State and metro area rankings reflect the highest performing hospitals in the area across multiple areas of care. U.S. News & World Report evaluated each hospital’s performance using a variety of measures such as survival rates, complication rates, patient experience and level of nursing care.

“These rankings reflect UC San Diego Health’s commitment to being a highly reliable, learning health system. The steadfast approach to improve patient care through reliable systems and processes evidence our commitment to our patients each and every day,” said Chad VanDenBerg, MPH, chief quality and patient safety officer at UC San Diego Health.

The Best Hospitals methodology also factors in data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, American Hospital Association, professional organizations and medical specialists.

Another key component of U.S. News & World Report rankings is the expert opinion score, which is based on physicians around the nation voting for the best hospitals in their specialty. Changes to this year’s ranking methodology includes COVID-19’s impact on care delivery, additions of rankings for new common procedures and conditions, home recovery times, obstetrics and gynecology and more.

In addition to top rankings in U.S. News & World Report, UC San Diego Health is recognized as having the highest level of safety from The Leapfrog Group, with an “A” for both campuses and is ranked third nationally among Comprehensive Academic Medical Centers by Vizient Inc. for demonstrating excellence in delivering high-quality care. Further, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recognized UC San Diego Health as a five-star institution for the quality of our care.

UC San Diego Health is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Institute, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla, as well as primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California. UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest is home to the area’s only Regional Burn Center and one of only two Level I trauma centers in the county.