Awards & Achievements

Being recognized for quality patient care is a hospital's highest recognition. Review some of our recent awards and achievements.

Recent Awards and Achievements

• Best Hospital in San Diego – Ranked No. 1 hospital system in San Diego and No. 5 in California for 2022-23 by U.S. News & World Report.
• More Top Ranked Specialties – Ranked among the nation’s best in 10 adult medical and surgical specialties for 2022-23 by U.S. News & World Report – more than any hospital system in San Diego: Cancer (No. 20); Cardiology & Heart Surgery (No. 21); Ear, Nose & Throat (No. 21); Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (No. 11); Geriatrics (No. 11); Neurology & Neurosurgery (No. 21); Obstetrics & Gynecology (No. 26); Orthopedics (No. 39); Pulmonology & Lung Surgery (No. 10); Urology (No. 16).
• Among the Nation's Top Academic Medical Centers for Patient Care – For the fourth straight year, UC San Diego Health was named a top performer in the Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Annual Ranking by Vizient. The 2022 recognition reflects the superior quality of our patient care in key areas.
• "A's" for Hospital Safety – UC San Diego Health's hospitals in La Jolla and Hillcrest once again earned top marks from The Leapfrog Group in the spring of 2023 for keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.
•  "Top Docs" – More than 100 UC San Diego Health physicians in 46 specialties were named "Top Docs" in the 2022 San Diego Magazine “Physicians of Exceptional Excellence” survey, an annual opportunity for doctors across the region to vote for much-admired colleagues
• Nursing Excellence – Maintains Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, considered among the highest recognitions for nursing excellence and innovation in nursing practice
• Outstanding Stroke Care – Earned the American Heart Association's / American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines - Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and is listed on their Stroke Elite Plus, Advanced Therapy and Type 2 Diabetes honor rolls.
• Excellence in Maternity Care – Recognized as a 2022-23 High Performing Hospital for Obstetric and Infant Care, the highest award a hospital can earn by U.S. News & World Report. Also, listed on the 2022 Maternity Care Honor Roll, awarded by Cal Hospital Compare, in partnership with the California Health & Human Services Agency. In 2022, UC San Diego Health also achieved all the maternity care standards identified by The Leapfrog Group as indicative of quality maternity and neonate care.
• Information Technology to Enhance Patient Care and Comfort – Named a level 9 "most wired" hospital in both the acute and ambulatory categories by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) in 2021. These distinctions recognize our efforts to focus on technology strategies that support meaningful outcomes for our patients.
• LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader – Scored a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index in 2022.