The fourth annual UC San Diego Health Improvement Excellence Awards and Showcase honored individuals and teams across seven categories, including the grand prize winner, whose improvement projects are making a lasting impact across the health system. These initiatives reflect the best of who we are — innovative thinkers, dedicated collaborators and compassionate caregivers improving the lives of our patients every day.
This year's awards recognized projects that were implemented between January 1 and December 31, 2025, that demonstrated sustained results for at least three months and aligned with one or more health strategic goals.
"These projects are a powerful reminder of what's possible when we work together to solve problems, improve care, and learn from one another," Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health.
Improvement of the Year Winners
Note: An extended, audio-described version of this video, including narration of important visual elements, is available on the UC San Diego Health YouTube channel: Play the audio-described version.
Improving Access: Automation with a Human Touch: Personalized Outreach for Every Patient (Grand Prize Winner)
The GI outreach project improved access to outpatient GI procedures by expanding pre-procedure outreach using an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled conversational agent. It achieved 100% outreach coverage, increased patient engagement, and reduced no-shows and cancellations from 10-15% to 6%, while improving scheduling efficiency and access to care. Team Members (not all pictured): Shannon Brown, Julie Barro, Sean Villafranca, Stephanie Reed, Courtney Ralls, Rachel Paz, Madison Leffler, Amanda Miller, Jeffrey Pan, Jie Cao, Eugene Kang, Mary-Ann Dobrota, Andrew Chua, Karandeep Singh, John Chang, Lauren Alden, Victoria Dearman, Rohit Loomba, Michael Klade, Chelsea Sallstrom, Kendra Ramada, Stacy Rayle, Brianna Lotze, and Anya Rubin. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Advancing Health Equity: Bridging Community and Clinic: Refugee Community Doulas Advancing Perinatal Health Equity
The UC San Diego Health community doula program, launched in 2025, trains community members to provide culturally and linguistically responsive support for refugee and immigrant families facing barriers to maternal care. Integrated into care teams, doulas improve trust, communication, and patient experience while addressing inequities in outcomes. To date, 18 doulas have supported over 60 births, while also building a sustainable, community-based workforce. Team members (not all pictured): April Ricotta, Segen Zeray, Maggie Conway, Rita Ewaz, and Amina Sheik Mohamed. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Efficiency of Operations: OB Triage Trailblazers: Millions Captured, Zero Added Workload
Improved OB triage charge capture by giving nurses the tools and workflow needed to bill evaluation and management codes accurately. With a new electronic health record-integrated calculator and targeted education, the program now recovers $1.3 to $1.8 million in monthly revenue, creating a sustainable, nurse-led model that supports both clinical care and financial performance. Team Members (not all pictured): Sandra Schrader, Lani Lee, Brooke Sanchez,Tiffany Lentz, Meagan Ruth, Micah Bragenzer, Jandelisa Smith, Molly Sybrandt, Ala Garza, Jocelyn Angel, Hillary Stauffer, Michelle Mah, and Rebecca Polcer. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Environmental Impact: Surplus Medical Supply Donation Program
Launched in 2025, the medical supply donation program redirects unused medical supplies from landfill to training, humanitarian, and low-resource health care settings. Through cross-department collaboration, it has already diverted over 10 million supplies, reducing waste while supporting underserved communities. Team Members (not all pictured): Jennifer Woods, Nicole Poletto, Valerie Fusco, Scott Benson, Eric Marquez, Jake Cannon, Nichole Schirm, David Gomez, Kavya Biederman, Shreya Dhanala, Michelle Law, Naren Ramesh, Sarah Bedsted, Kathleen Allari, Stella Wang, and Shira Abeles. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Fostering Our Culture: Health Human Resources Masterclass: Turning Weekly Learning into Real-Time Leadership Support
Masterclass is a weekly 50-minute virtual series that gives UC San Diego Health and Health Sciences leaders timely, practical guidance on real workplace issues. With brief presentations, a live Q&A, and follow-up resources, it has reached over 8,000 attendees, helping leaders stay aligned, informed, and ready to act. Team Members (not all pictured): Kim Eskierka, Judy Schweitzer, Joyce Hwang, Ariel Baumbaugh, Patrick Aganon-Riedling, Karlyle Lim, and Sean Kennedy. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Patient Experience: Rest Matters: Improving Healing Through Shared Room Guidelines
The shared room guidelines initiative improved restfulness and privacy for patients in semi-private inpatient rooms by standardizing expectations for noise and behavior. With staff training, visible signage, and targeted "quiet and restful" education, participating units saw improved patient-reported restfulness and quieter nights, with system-wide rollout planned for sustainability. Team Members (not all pictured): Mobe Montesa, Aldrin Poblete, Judy Temsuk, Nelissa Reyes, Jessica Mathers, Megan Bandfield, Cecilia Caronongan, Kristina James, Eema Hemmen, Stacy Rayle, Laura Chechel, Priscila Kovacs, Peggy McCartney, and Marjorie Wakefield. Photo credit: Alex Matthews, UC San Diego Health
Pursuit of Quality: Standardizing Postpartum Hypertension Care: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Reducing Readmission and Improve Maternal Outcomes
A multidisciplinary team at UC San Diego Health implemented a standardized postpartum hypertension protocol to reduce readmissions for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The intervention — combining inpatient medication standardization, discharge blood pressure cuff distribution, and structured follow-up — reduced postpartum readmissions by 18.6% and improved outpatient blood pressure management at scale. Team Members (not all pictured): Mai Hoang, Maryam Tarsa, Allison Rajan, Ayelet Ruppin-Pham, Ukachi Emeruwa, Nicole Teal, Adriann Deguzman, Elizabeth Hughes, Tiffany Lentz, Lani Lee, Marco D'Angelo, and Donna Beifus.
