Awards and Achievements

• U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospital Honor Roll recognizing the country’s top 20 medical centers has included UCLA Health for 31 consecutive years. In 2020–21, among more than 4,500 facilities evaluated, UCLA Health hospitals placed #1 in both the Los Angeles region and in California, and #4 in the Nation.

• U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospital recognized UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital for its broad excellence in pediatric care in the 2021–22 rankings. The annual accolade highlights our leadership in multiple areas including: Neonatology, Pediatric Cancer, Pediatric Gastroenterology and GI surgery, Pediatric Nephrology, Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery and Pediatric Orthopedics.

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 Santa Monica Medical Center the maximum three-year accreditation.

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

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

• 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 Santa Monica Medical Center and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with Hospital Patient Safety Grades “A” and “A”, respectively, in Spring 2019 and Fall 2019.
• The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognized UCLA with a 2020 Get With the Guildelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Honor Roll Elite and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Achievement.
• The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognized UCLA with a 2018 Get With the Guildelines Heart Failure Gold Plus Award for achieving 85% or higher adherence to all Get with the Guidelines Heart Failure Performance Achievement Indicators.
• RAC, 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 2019.

• 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 Santa Monica Medical Center 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 8th in research and 4th in primary care in its annual assessment of medical schools in 2018.

• 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 Santa Monica Medical Center 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 Santa Monica Medical Center for high “likelihood to recommend” rankings and exceptional patient-satisfaction scores.

Physician Excellence

• Los Angeles Magazine named more than 150 UCLA Health physicians to its 2018 Top Doctor List.

Specialties

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

• Press Ganey awarded UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center 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 and 25th in the country for its "Best Employers for Diversity" in 2019.
• BlackDoctor.org, an online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans, named UCLA Health as a 2018 Top Hospital for Diversity honoring UCLA Health’s promotion of equity and inclusion throughout our organization and health care system.
• American Nurses Credentialing Center designated UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center 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 Santa Monica Medical Center 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.