Thomson Reuters ranks UC San Diego Health System as one of nation's top 15 major teaching hospitals

UC San Diego Health System was recently listed as one the nation's top 15 major teaching hospitals by Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care. The award recognizes hospitals that have achieved excellence in clinical outcomes, patient safety, patient satisfaction, financial performance, and operational efficiency. This is first time UC San Diego Health System has been recognized with this honor.

"UC San Diego Health System is proud to receive this national recognition from Thomson Reuters. As the region's only academic medical center, our mission is to research new lifesaving therapies and deliver the best possible clinical care while teaching the next generation of physicians," said Tom Jackiewicz, CEO of UC San Diego Health System. "Truly, this is the place where discoveries are delivered, every day."

UC San Diego Health System is comprised of two campuses with locations in Hillcrest and La Jolla. The Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center will open in 2011. In 2016, UC San Diego Health System will unveil Jacobs Medical Center which will include three new specialized hospitals: The Hospital for Advanced Surgery, The Cancer Hospital, and The Hospital for Women and Infants.

"This award distinguishes us as a premier academic medical center that is unparalleled in patient care," said Margarita Baggett, chief nursing officer for UC San Diego Health System. "Patients from around the world choose us as a destination for the best in innovative and compassionate care."

The winners were identified through an in-depth analysis, the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals®: National Benchmarks study. The study evaluated 2,926 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals in 10 areas: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, and post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia.

The winning hospitals were announced in the March 29 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

"The 100 Top Hospitals winners raised the bar again this year, delivering a higher level of reliable care and greater value for their communities," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Reuters.

If Medicare inpatients at all hospitals in the U.S. received the same level of care as those treated in these 100 Top Hospital award winners:

*More than 98,000 additional patients would survive each year.
*Nearly 197,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.
*Expenses would decline by an aggregate $5.5 billion a year.
*The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.