image: Vizient, Inc. ranked UC San Diego Health among the nation’s top performers for patient care and safety.
Credit: UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health has been recognized as a top performer in the 2025 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Ranking from Vizient, Inc. This recognition highlights the hospital’s excellence across key quality domains, including safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, patient-centeredness, and quality of care, based on the Vizient Quality and Accountability Study, conducted annually since 2005.
"Receiving this award for the seventh year in a row is a powerful affirmation of our unwavering commitment to excellence in patient care,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health. “This recognition reflects the dedication of our entire team to deliver the safest, most effective, and compassionate care possible. For our patients, it means that every aspect of their health journey — from routine visits to complex treatments — is guided by a relentless pursuit of quality, safety, and equity.”
This year, 1,220 participating hospitals nationwide were segmented into seven cohorts for the study, which measures performance on the quality of patient care in the six domains and factors in data from Vizient Clinical Data Base, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
UC San Diego Health ranked ninth among 118 health systems evaluated in the Comprehensive Academic Medical Centers cohort.
“We are dedicated to delivering high-quality care at every step of the patient journey,” said Brendan Kremer, chief operating officer at UC San Diego Health. “Being recognized for outstanding performance in outpatient care shows that our commitment extends beyond the hospital to every clinic and service line.”
UC San Diego Health was ranked 19th out of 66 physician groups, highlighting the high standards in outpatient care in the 2025 Vizient Ambulatory Quality and Accountability Ranking. The recognition was determined through the Vizient Ambulatory Quality and Accountability Study, which evaluates performance in five domains: access to care, continuum of care, quality, efficiency, and variation in care. The study assessed data from the AAMC-Vizient Clinical Practice Solutions Center, Vizient Access and Throughput data, and the Vizient Clinical Data Base.
Chad VanDenBerg, chief quality and patient safety officer at UC San Diego Health, noted that the award echoes a culture of collaboration and accountability at every level.
“Our ability to consistently rank as a top performer reflects the intentional effort and dedication of our teams. For patients, it means safer, more reliable care every time they visit us,” VanDenBerg said. “This recognition validates the investments we have made in safety, continuous learning, and data-driven improvements — all with the goal of ensuring every patient receives world-class care, whether they are in our hospitals or our clinics.”
The recognition period is for work from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
UC San Diego Health, the region’s only academic health system, is dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care through commitment to community, groundbreaking research and inspired teaching. For 2025-26, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC San Diego Health as the best hospital system in San Diego and among the nation’s best in nine adult medical and surgical specialties, including cancer, cardiology, geriatrics, neurology and pulmonology. The 1,011-bed health system includes three hospitals — Hillcrest Medical Center, Jacobs Medical Center and East Campus Medical Center — as well as Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion, McGrath Outpatient Pavilion, and Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. The health system also includes primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California.
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