The UC Davis Health System is located in Sacramento, 18 miles from the UC Davis campus, is the primary teaching facility for the School of Medicine and for postgraduate medical education offered by the university. The hospital was founded in 1852 as the Sacramento County Hospital and in 1966 began its association with the University of California. In 1973 the university acquired the hospital and renamed it The University of California, Davis Medical Center to reflect it status as an academic health center. The UC Davis Health System serves as the main clinical educational site for the School of Medicine and health care facility for patients cared for by the faculty of the UC Davis School of Medicine. It plays a key role in the development and dissemination of new medical sciences knowledge and technology to accomplish the School of Medicine's clinical education and research goals and objectives. In 1998, U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked UC Davis Health System among the best hospitals in the nation in seven medical specialties.

The UC Davis Health System, a major referral center for northern California, is a fully accredited hospital, is licensed for 577 beds and is the region's only Level I comprehensive adult and pediatric trauma center. It offers complete inpatient services, diagnostic facilities and 24-hour major emergency medical services. UC Davis also has the region's only National Cancer Institute designated cancer center, and full-service children's hospital. Specialty services include a Trauma Service which utilizes Life Flight, an emergency helicopter evacuation service based at the UC Davis Health System, the Burn Center, a kidney transplant service, a regional poison control center, a corneal transplant service, a regional mental health program, an extensive family practice program, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a comprehensive rehabilitation center and seven specialized intensive care units including the Neurological Surgery Intensive Care Unit which has 10 beds. There is a comprehensive ambulatory care program with over 150 outpatient specialty services. The medical center has pioneered the use of telemedicine technology via telephone and satellite transmissions to rural hospitals.The medical staff is comprised of over 660 faculty members of the UC Davis School of Medicine including community-based physicians. The housestaff is comprised of over 800 interns, residents and fellows.

The UC Davis Health System admits more than 32,000 patients annually with 830,000 outpatient visits in its 150 plus specialty clinics. There are 12 operating rooms averaging 200 procedures a week. In 1989 the Satellite Surgical Suite opened with four more operating rooms, averaging 55 procedures a week. An Ambulatory Surgery Unit of six rooms opened in May 1990, averages 45 procedures per week. The four-story $11 million NCI designated cancer center enrolls more patients in cancer clinical trials than any other participating research institution nationwide, with 150 adult and 50 pediatric cancer clinical trials ongoing. A new $65 million Shriners Hospital was built on a 4.8 acre site at the medical center and offers even more clinical and research opportunities to faculty and residents, particularly in specialty fields such as Neurological Surgery. The newly constructed MIND Institute is a unique collaboration of clinicians and educators committed to finding treatments and cures for autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. UC Davis Health System is undertaking major expansion guided by its newly approved Long Range Development Plan. This ambitious program ($1 billion in expanded and upgraded facilities over the next 20 years) will match the growing health care needs of inland Northern California residents.