Awards and Achievements

UCLA Health is widely recognized as a leader in providing high-quality care, from relatively routine procedures to the most complex cases in a wide variety of medical specialties. Here are some of the most recent accolades that distinguish our hospitals, clinics, caregivers and programs.

U.S. News & World Report Rankings

• U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Hospital Honor Roll recognizing the country’s top 20 medical centers has included UCLA Health for 28 consecutive years. In 2017-18, among more than 4,500 facilities evaluated, UCLA Heath hospitals placed No. 1 in the Los Angeles region and No. 7 in the U.S.

• U.S. News & World Report‘s Best Children’s Hospital rankings in 2017 recognized UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital for quality in all 10 specialties it measured, a reflection of overall excellence.

Accreditations and Designations

• The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations each year, awarded Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica the maximum three-year accreditation.

• The Joint Commission certified UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica as a “Primary Stroke Center.” 

• American College of Surgeons designated Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as the highest-level Trauma Center.

• American Academy of Pediatrics verified UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital as the top-level Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

• Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Emergency Medical Services Agency accredited Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as a ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) Heart Attack Receiving Center.

• The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization that assesses performance of more than 2,600 general acute-care hospitals across the nation, recognized UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with Hospital Patient Safety Grades “A” and “A”, respectively, in Spring 2018.

• American Heart Association recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with a 2016 Get With The Guidelines - Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures and guidelines for patients with heart failure.

• URAC, a national accreditation organization, granted UCLA Health a Patient-Centered Medical Home accreditation, a standard for excellence in ambulatory patient care.

• The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a program sponsored by the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund, recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with a "baby-friendly" designation in 2017.

• Human Rights Campaign Foundation recognized all four UCLA Health hospitals on its list of “Leaders in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” in 2017.

• Press Ganey recognized Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA for outstanding nursing quality.

• Vizient, a company that seeks to help health care organizations deliver exceptional, cost-effective patient care, recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Health with the 2017 Rising Star Award for making significant improvements in year-over-year performance in quality and accountability.

• CAPG, an association representing physician organizations in 38 states, recognized UCLA Medical Group with the highest rating possible in its 2017 Standards of Excellence Survey.

• Healthgrades, a resource connecting consumers and health care organizations, recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica as Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence.

Research

Patients benefit from UCLA Health’s standing as a comprehensive academic medical system, where physicians and scientists work together to research new ways to diagnose and treat diseases.

• National Institutes of Health awarded the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA with funding totaling $303 million in 2016. The school is consistently among the tops in the nation in research funding awarded.

• U.S. News & World Report ranked the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 11th in research and sixth in primary care in its annual assessment of medical schools in 2017.

• The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has made numerous research breakthroughs that serve the public by advancing health care.

• National Cancer Institute in 2017 designated the brain cancer program at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer and the UCLA Brain Tumor Center as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) site to honor and support exemplary achievements in research and patient care.

• National Cancer Institute in 2013 renewed the SPORE designation for the prostate cancer program at the cancer center and the David Geffen School of Medicine Department of Urology.

Technology

• Hospitals & Health Networks named Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center one of the ”Most Wired” hospitals in the nation.

• U.S. News & World Report recognized UCLA Health as one of the “Most Connected Hospitals” for excellence in patient safety and engagement and clinical connectedness.

• HIMSS Analytics, a global healthcare advisor, awarded Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica with an acute care Stage 7 award for highest level of electronic medical record progress at hospitals and health systems.

Patient Satisfaction

• Vizient, a company that seeks to help health care organizations deliver exceptional, cost-effective patient care, ranked UCLA Health No. 2 in Patient Centeredness among 107 hospitals evaluated in its 2017 AMC Quality and Accountability Performance Scorecard.

• Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica for high “likelihood to recommend” rankings and exceptional patient-satisfaction scores.

Specialties

• National Cancer Institute recognized UCLA Health's Prostate Cancer and Brain Tumor Programs as Centers of Excellence.

• Press Ganey awarded UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica with a 2016 Guardian of Excellence Award for outstanding Neonatal Intensive Care Unit care.

• American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy awarded the Endoscopy Units at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and 200 UCLA Medical Plaza with "Quality Star" designations.

Workplace and Culture

• Forbes named UCLA Health as one of America's Best Midsize Employers in 2018.
• American Nurses Credentialing Center designated UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as national Magnet hospitals, the highest level of nursing accreditation.

• Practice Greenhealth, an environmental solutions resource for the health care sector, recognized Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica with a Greenhealth Partner for Change Award for safe and sustainable environmental policies.

• WorldatWork, a nonprofit human resources association, awarded UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA with a 2017 Seal of Distinction from WorldatWork for providing a distinct, positive work environment.

• Nurse.org named Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as one of the top 2 Best Hospitals in California for nurses.

Milestones

• UCLA Health has the largest combined heart-lung transplant program in the country.

• The Liver-Transplant Team performed its 6,000th liver transplant in June 2016 – the highest number of liver transplants performed at any one center in the U.S.

• The Lung Transplant program performed a milestone 1,000th surgery in September 2016, becoming the first program on the West Coast, and one of only seven centers nationwide to do so.