Recognition

UC Davis Health System is proud to have earned accolades and recognition by virtue of its medical excellence and significant health-care contributions.

National Cancer Institute 'comprehensive' designation

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only two such centers in Northern California that has earned National Cancer Institute (NCI) "comprehensive" designation. The center plays a key community and regional role and serves to influence standards of cancer prevention and treatment. UC Davis is one of only 41 cancer centers in the U.S. to have earned the NCI's "comprehensive" status, which signifies that the center meets stringent criteria in the areas of laboratory, clinical and population-based research, professional and public education, and in the dissemination of clinical and public advances to the communities it serves. The designation is the world’s most prestigious honor in oncology, reserved for less than 1 percent of cancer centers nationwide.

UC Davis Medical Center ranks among the top 50 hospitals in America, according an annual U.S. News and World Report survey published in July 2012. Out of roughly 4,800 hospitals nationwide, the medical center placed 46th for cancer care.

 The annual survey aims to identify institutions where the sickest patients are sent for advanced care and in which new treatment guidelines are used and often pioneered. These top hospitals also conduct bench-to-bedside research to advance patient care and utilize the latest advances in imaging, surgical devices and other technologies.

UC Davis Medical Center also ranks as the top hospital in Sacramento with several high-performing medical specialties, according to U.S. News Best Hospitals metro-area rankings.

Besides cancer, the publication recognizes UC Davis in the following areas: cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopaedics; pulmonology; and urology.

U.S. News and World Report also ranked UC Davis Children's Hospital among the nation's top in four pediatric specialties in rankings released in June 2012. Together with Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern California, UC Davis ranked 30th in urology and 40th in orthopaedics. UC Davis also ranked 46th in nephrology and 48th in diabetes/endocrinology.

U.S. News surveyed 178 pediatric centers to obtain hard data such as availability of key resources and ability to prevent complications and infections. The hospital survey made up 75 percent of the rankings. A separate reputational survey in which 1,500 pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty made up the remaining 25 percent.

UC Davis Medical Center is one of 89 hospitals nationwide to receive a 2012 Top Hospital designation from The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit coalition of some of the nation's largest employers and health-care purchasers.

The award recognizes hospitals for their exceptional performance in critical areas of patient safety and quality, including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, established policies and procedures to prevent errors, and measures of efficient use of resources.

Leapfrog also issues hospital safety scores that grade overall success in keeping patients safe from infections, injuries and errors. On a scale of "A" to "F," UC Davis Medical Center received a "B" rating in Leapfrog's spring 2013 score update.

UC Davis Medical Center is one of just eight U.S. hospitals receive a Kidney Transplant Excellence Award for 2012 from HealthGrades for superior outcomes and survival rates for kidney transplants. The medical center is one of just two in the nation to receive the award three years in a row. UC Davis Health System’s commitment to organ transplants and superior transplant outcomes has also been recognized with national awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.

Life-extending organ transplants are considered one of the most complex and challenging areas in modern medicine, and are performed by just a small percentage of America’s nearly 6,000 hospitals. The medical center's kidney transplant program is one of the country's largest.

UC Davis Medical Center has been certified as an advanced primary stroke center by The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission's Primary Stroke Center Certification program was developed in 2003 in collaboration with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and is based on Brain Attack Coalition recommendations.

U.S. News and World Report ranks UC Davis School of Medicine among the best in the country. In its annual list of America’s best medical schools for 2014, the magazine ranked the school 19th for primary care and 42nd in research.

The annual listing appears on the publication's website and is published in its guidebook, Best Graduate Schools 2014.

UC Davis Medical Center patients receive exceptional and compassionate nursing care from our team of highly trained nurses. Our nursing staff ratio betters the state ratio for California hospitals of one nurse for every five patients.

The UC Davis Stroke Program received a 2011 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for its commitment to and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients.

The award program considers quality measures related to the use of specific medications and the availability of screening, education and rehabilitation services. "Gold Plus" is the highest level of recognition possible and signifies consistent adherence to those quality measures over the course of at least 24 consecutive months.

Everyone deserves a great doctor, and UC Davis Health System is filled with them. Twenty-seven UC Davis physicians are included on the list of top doctors in U.S. News & World Report’s best hospitals survey. Developed in collaboration with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.,  a New York-based company that has worked for nearly two decades to identify the nation's top doctors, the Top Doctors selections are based on nominations submitted by other doctors and reviewed by a physician-led research team.

In Castle Connolly's estimation, 23 of the listed doctors at UC Davis are among the top 1 percent in the nation in their specialty, with the remainder determined to be in the top 10 percent in their region.

In an annual survey by Best Doctors, Inc., more than 115 UC Davis physicians representing 46 specialties also earned praise and recognition from their peers for being among the nation’s best. The Best Doctors in America® database contains approximately U.S. 46,000 doctors, all chosen through a peer-review survey that asks: “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer them?” For more information, visit www.Bestdoctors.com or review the December 2012 issue of Sacramento Magazine.

UC Davis Medical Center received honors for promoting diversity in 2012 from the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association.

The institute recognized the hospital as "Best in Class" for its work in one of four categories assessed by the survey: Diversity Management and Strengthening the Workforce. Recognition for this category is based on hospitals' reported efforts to improve diversity management through efforts to recruit, retain and promote minority individuals within their workforce.

For the second consecutive year, UC Davis Health System has been designated as one of the nation's information technology leaders, according to the 2012 "Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study" that appears in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.

The health system is one of only 11 institutions in California designated "Most Wired" in this year's assessment, of 1,570 hospitals that completed surveys. The annual study examines how hospitals use information technology to address and enhance patient safety, quality of care, public health, administrative processes and workforce decisions.

UC Davis also ranks among the nation's 156 Most Connected Hospitals for adopting information technology to enhance patient safety and quality of care, according to U.S. News and World Report. "Most Connected" hospitals must be ranked highly by U.S. News and achieve two other milestones: meeting the federal government’s current "meaningful use" criteria for electronic health records (EMR), and gaining recognition as early adopters of EMR technology by HIMSS Analytics, a division of the non-profit Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

UC Davis Medical Center has been designated as a Top 10 Hospital in America for Service Excellence by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers, signifying it as one of America's most customer-friendly hospitals. The award is designed to find customer-friendly hospitals based either on an extensive application process or by a secret review of a facility's public communication and staff interaction with customers.

UC Davis Medical Group ranks among the Top Overall Performing Physician Organizations in California for 2012, according to the Integrated Healthcare Association. The award recognizes physician organizations that have excelled in meeting 49 key outpatient performance measures related to clinical quality, use of health information technology and patient experience in 2011. Nearly 200 organizations participated and UC Davis was one of 47 to receive an award.

The nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization has recognized UC Davis Medical Center two years running as a Leader in Healthcare Equality for creating a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBT patients and employees.

The medical center is one of only 71 nationwide to be recognized by the New York-based Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s in its Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) report, which examines the quality of health-care services and policies affecting sexual minorities and their families at hospitals throughout the U.S.

The National Hispanic Health Foundation presented a 2009 Hispanic Health Leadership Award to Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor of Human Health Sciences at UC Davis and dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, for efforts to improve the health of Hispanics and other underserved populations.

The nonprofit foundation is the education and research arm of the National Hispanic Medical Association. The foundation aims improve the health of Hispanics and the underserved, eliminate health disparities by supporting Hispanic researchers and Hispanic health services research, and increase workforce diversity.

UC Davis Health System received a 2012 "Partner for Change" Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation's premier membership organization for health-care facilities committed to environmentally responsible operations. The award is one of the organization's Environmental Excellence Awards given each year to honor outstanding environmental achievements in the health-care sector.

UC Davis Medical Center was honored as “The Best Medical Center of Northern California by the Russian-Speaking Community” in the annual “Best of the Best” contest by Sacramento-based ANONS Russian-Speaking Community Newspaper. Russian is one of the top three non-English languages spoken by patients at the medical center, and is the second most-requested language of the hospital’s translators.

The Community Services Planning Council in Sacramento presented UC Davis Health System with its prestigious Sustained Community Support award at its 2009 People Helping People Awards luncheon. UC Davis received the nonprofit group’s highest honor for its contributions to area schools, improving health access for diverse populations and developing a comprehensive employee volunteer program.

The People Helping People Awards, presented annually since 1989, honor businesses, civic organizations and individuals for exceptional community service. UC Davis was selected for its award this year from a field of 56 nominees.

A major nursing organization, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), conferred a award for excellence on UC Davis Medical Center's Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit (MSICU), a specialized environment for critically ill medical/surgical patients. The silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN standards for a healthy work environment.

UC Davis School of Medicine ranks among the top medical schools on the 2012 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) PharmFree Scorecard, a national assessment of medical school policies governing how the pharmaceutical industry interacts with faculty and students. UC Davis received an "A" rating on the scorecard, which it has received every year since AMSA established the scorecard in 2007.

The scorecard uses letter grades to assess a school's performance in 11 potential areas of conflict. UC Davis's policies scored highest in six specific domains AMSA assessed , including policies related to acceptance of gifts and meals from industry; limiting pharmaceutical samples accepted; individuals with financial conflicts participating in university purchasing decisions; financial support for attending industry-sponsored lectures and meetings (off-campus); industry support for scholarships and trainee funds; and inclusion of education about conflict of interest within the academic curriculum.

UC Davis Health System was named the 2010 Corporate Hispanic Business Advocate of the Year by the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, for its significant contributions and dedication to the Hispanic business community in the Sacramento region.

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento awarded its 2009 Humanitarian of the Year award to Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor of Human Health Sciences at UC Davis and dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine. The Humanitarian of the Year Award is given to individuals who have displayed a passion for life and a sincere desire to work toward enhancing the lives of others.

UC Davis Health System received the annual Spirit of Excellence Award for Service from Modern Healthcare magazine for its innovative “patient-centered medical home” approach designed to improve the patient experience.

The program, in place in the health system's family and community medicine department, emphasizes freeing medical assistants from clerical duties so they can be more patient-focused, The medical home also features team huddles to discuss patients’ specific needs prior to their visit.

UC Davis Health System’s Division of Pain Medicine was designated in 2010 as a Clinical Center of Excellence in Pain Management by the American Pain Society — the highest recognition a pain center can receive nationally. The award recognizes quality pain-care programs that offer outstanding treatments and therapies for patients suffering from chronic pain disorders and acute pain after surgery or trauma, as well for people in palliative care settings who face pain from cancer and other terminal conditions. Award receipients are ineligible to re-apply for the award for three years.

The Huntington's Disease Society of America named UC Davis a Center of Excellence for Family Services and Research, recognizing its expertise in clinical care for Huntington's disease patients. Huntington's is a hereditary, degenerative brain disorder that gradually inhibits motor and cognitive functions. Patients in the advanced stage become wholly dependent upon others for their care. UC Davis has held the distinction since 2001.

The Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce named UC Davis Health System CEO Claire Pomeroy its "Businesswoman of the Year" during the organization's 116th annual Dinner and Business Awards held in February 2011. The award is given annually to a leader for her contributions to the growth of their enterprise and community service over a five-year period.

A 2010 study showed UC Davis Health System generates more than 20,000 jobs and nearly $3.5 billion a year in economic output to the Sacramento region and Northern California.

For exposing students to opportunities in the health-care professions, UC Davis Health System received the Outstanding Dedication to Educational Partnerships Award from Sacramento-based Linking Education to Economic Development or L.E.E.D.

The nonprofit promotes partnerships between business, labor, education and government, such as these examples involving the Health System:

• Lead sponsorship of the Sacramento High School of Math, Engineering and Health Science, offering speakers, hospital tours, mentorship and job shadowing opportunities;
• CURE High School Research Academy partnership with St. Hope Public Schools, exposing students to cancer science, medical technologies and scientific research;
• Member of the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, offering pre-medical education for high school students;
• Participation in Saturday Academy, where students from the UC Davis School of Medicine introduce groups of teenagers to what amounts to a condensed version of medical school.

The UC Davis Center for Virtual Care has been accredited as a Comprehensive Education Institute by the American College of Surgeons — an honor bestowed on only a handful of simulation centers worldwide.

The accreditation acknowledges the center for offering exceptional educational opportunities that allow health professionals to maintain their skills and explore new procedures and technologies. The center's patient-simulation and advanced robotics technologies create a virtual hospital environment, giving health professionals the opportunity to practice new invasive procedures and emergency medicine interventions before they treat patients.

back to top