How did Sacramento hospitals fare in US News’ list of the best? UC Davis leads the pack
U.S. News & World Report rated Sacramento’s UC Davis Medical Center as the seventh best hospital in the state of California and as the top hospital in the Sacramento region in its annual “Best Hospitals” rankings.
The magazine reviewed roughly 4,750 U.S. hospitals on quality of care in 15 adult specialties and on how well they did in performing 17 procedures and conditions. This year, 175 earned a ranking in at least one specialty, and 531 earned a place among the “Best Regional Hospitals” in a state or metro area.
“This year’s expanded report from U.S. News includes new ratings for important procedures and conditions to help patients, in consultation with their doctors, narrow down their choice of hospital based on the specific type of care they need,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis.
Amid increased scrutiny of racial disparities in health care, Harder’s team debuted health equity measures in ts annual ranking. That included assessing whether a hospital’s patient demographic was representative of its community population.
“At roughly four out of five hospitals, we found that the community’s minority residents were underrepresented among patients receiving services such as joint replacement, cancer surgery and common heart procedures,” Harder said. “Against this backdrop, however, we found important exceptions – hospitals that provide care to a disproportionate share of their community’s minority residents. These metrics are just a beginning; we aim to expand on our measurement of health equity in the future.”
Readers will find a health equity report in the magazine’s write-up on each hospital.
How the hospitals stacked up
UC Davis was the only local hospital to achieve national rankings for its specialty care, coming in 25th for geriatrics; 26th in both the gynecology and the cardiology and heart surgery categories; 30th in both the pulmonology and lung surgery listing and the ear, nose and throat specialty; 36th in orthopedics; 40th for cancer treatment; 42nd for diabetes and endocrinology; and 45th for neurology and neurosurgery.
U.S. News recognized the region’s five best hospitals, with UC Davis Medical Center at the top followed by Sacramento’s Mercy General Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Medical Center on Morse Avenue and Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center on Bruceville Road.
UC Davis climbed up two rungs on the ranking of California’s top 10 hospitals: 1. UCLA Medical Center; 2. Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; 3. UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco; 4. Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital; 5. Keck Medical Center of USC in Los Angeles; 5. UC San Diego Health-Jacobs Medical Center; 7. UC Davis Medical Center; 7. Scripps La Jolla Hospitals in San Diego; 9. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach; and 10. John Muir Health-Walnut Creek Medical Center.
Other regional hospitals also received a state ranking: Mercy General at 30th, Kaiser Roseville at 37th, Enloe Medical Center and Sutter Sacramento at 42nd, and Kaiser Permanente Sacramento and Kaiser South Sacramento at 56th.
Perhaps the best known feature of the magazine’s rankings is its list of the nation’s 20 best hospitals. Four California hospitals maintained positions on this list this year, but one, Keck Hospital of USC, exited it.
The top three hospitals were the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Cleveland Clinic and UCLA Medica Center; UCSF was ninth.
Stanford Health Care came in at No. 12, up from 13th last year, but the other three hospitals from the state earned a place in the top 10. All 10 are shown here, with their ranking last year in parenthesis:
In a news release, Mark R. Laret, the chief executive officer of UCSF Health, said: “This is a great honor that reflects our priority of providing the best care for our patients, including those who come to us for the most complex care. In the face of the global health crisis, our clinical teams have maintained their focus on the total health needs of our patients. I am so proud of the compassionate care they provide, every day, to the patients we are privileged to serve.”
Rankings on procedures
To aid consumers, the magazine also assesses how hospitals did in performing 17 procedures and conditions that commonly require treatment. Hospitals could receive marks of high performing, average or not rated.
The listing below identifies the procedures and conditions in which Sacramento-area hospitals ranked as high performing. (All local hospitals on the list received a score of average for treatment of hip fractures.)
Kaiser Roseville: colon cancer surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, knee replacement surgery, pneumonia and stroke
Kaiser South Sacramento: heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, lung cancer surgery, pneumonia and stroke
Kaiser Sacramento: colon cancer surgery, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, pneumonia and stroke
Mercy General: abdominal aortic aneurism repair, aortic valve surgery, back surgery (spinal fusion), colon cancer surgery, COPD, diabetes, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, kidney failure, pneumonia and transcatheter aortic valve replacement
UC Davis: abdominal aortic aneurism repair, colon cancer surgery, COPD, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, hip replacement surgery, kidney failure, lung cancer surgery, pneumonia, stroke and transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Sutter Sacramento: aortic valve surgery, back surgery (spinal fusion), COPD, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement surgery, stroke and transcatheter aortic valve replacement
