UCSF Medical Center Is Best Hospital in California for 2018-19

Continues to Rank Among Nation's Top Hospitals in Adult Specialty Care

By Elizabeth Fernandez

Dr. Nina Shah talks to a patient
Nina Shah, MD, a hematologist who specializes in the treatment of multiple myeloma meets with a patient at UCSF Medical Center, which ranked eighth in the nation and best in California for cancer care in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2018-2019 Best Hospitals survey. Photo by Steve Babuljak

UCSF Medical Center has been recognized again as the top hospital in California and among the finest hospitals nationwide in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018-2019 Best Hospitals survey.

In this year’s results, released Aug. 14, UCSF ranked sixth on the national Best Hospitals Honor Roll and received special recognition for exceptional performance in 15 medical specialties, including top-10 status in a dozen. It was recognized as the best hospital in California for cancer care, and was ranked third nationwide and best in the West for neurology and neurosurgery.

U.S. News Best Hospitals 2018-19

1

Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minn.

2

Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, Ohio

3

Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore

4

Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston

5

University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine
Ann Arbor, Mich.

6

UCSF Medical Center
San Francisco

7

UCLA Medical Center
Los Angeles

8

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles

9

Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital
Stanford, Calif.

10

New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York

Source: 2018-2019 U.S. News Best Hospitals survey

UCSF Medical Center also was recognized as the best hospital on the West Coast in seven other specialties – urology, kidney disorders, diabetes and endocrine disorders, gynecology, orthopedics, pulmonology, and rheumatology (musculoskeletal and immune disorders) – and was the best hospital in Northern California in geriatrics, ophthalmology, psychiatry, and gastroenterology and GI surgery.

“These achievements reflect our daily commitment to providing the very best health care possible,” said Mark R. Laret, chief executive officer and president of UCSF Health, which includes UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. “Ultimately, they reflect the talent and dedication of our care teams to constantly push to improve and innovate on our patients’ behalf.”


Learn more about what goes into making UCSF Health a world-class health system »


More than 4,500 U.S. hospitals were evaluated in this year’s survey, which is designed to help patients and their physicians make informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions or for common elective procedures. The specialty rankings assess hospital performance in high-complexity areas of inpatient care, from cancer to urology.

UCSF Medical Center has been consistently recognized among the country’s premier medical institutions since the rankings began in 1990. This year, it also received the highest possible rating – high-performing – in six common procedures within specialties: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, heart failure, colon cancer surgery, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery.

In rankings by state and metropolitan area, U.S. News recognized hospitals as high-performing across multiple areas of care. UCSF was named the top hospital in the San Francisco Metro Area.

“UCSF Medical Center’s dedication to providing premier care reflects UCSF’s overall commitment to advancing health, whether through patient care, research or education,” said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chancellor of UC San Francisco. “We are very proud of the UCSF Health team, whose work forms the heart of UCSF’s mission and who translate the latest science into world-class care for our patients.”

In a separate set of pediatric rankings in June, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with locations in Oakland and San Francisco, placed among the nation’s best in all 10 pediatric specialties that were surveyed. The pediatric scorecard serves as a guide of hospitals that excel in treating children with the most challenging diagnoses.

U.S. News & World Report began publishing hospital rankings in 1990 to identify hospitals that excel in treating patients with particularly difficult medical conditions. Rankings are based primarily on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing. For the other specialties, rankings are based on hospital reputation, as determined by U.S. News surveys of physicians. Only 158 hospitals were ranked in even one category.

Complete rankings are available on the U.S. News & World Report website and will be published in the magazine’s “Best Hospitals 2019” guidebook in late September.

UCSF Medical Center's Specialty Rankings

Cancer - 8th (tied)
Best in California

Cardiology & Heart Surgery - 30th (tied)
Best in San Francisco Metro Area

Diabetes & Endocrinology - 6th (tied)
Best on the West Coast

Ear, Nose & Throat - 7th
Best in San Francisco Metro Area

Gastroenterology & GI Surgery - 13th (tied)
Best in Northern California

Geriatrics - 8th
Best in Northern California

Gynecology - 6th
Best in the West

Nephrology - 4th
Best in the West

Neurology & Neurosurgery - 3rd
Best in the West

Opthalmology - 10th
Best in Northern California

Orthopedics - 7th
Best in the West

Psychiatry - 11th
Best in Northern California

Pulmonology - 7th
Best on the West Coast

Rheumatology - 7th
Best in the West

Urology - 4th
Best in the West

Source: 2018-2019 U.S. News Best Hospitals survey

UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area.

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