2025 Ambulatory Quality Awards honor top clinics (with a sip of SFW sangria)
By Stephanie Buck
(SACRAMENTO)
Where else on a balmy September evening in Sacramento can you find sick beats, cool sangria and your boss? At the hottest awards show in town: the annual Ambulatory Primary Care Quality Awards at UC Davis Health.
The beats were courtesy of DJ Ridiculous, a.k.a. physician Chris Shin. And while the sangria was non-alcoholic, the fried artichoke balls from Food and Nutrition Services deserve to go viral. They were that good.
The Quality Awards celebrate the clinicians and staff who compete each year for the organization’s top honors in primary care. From improving access to increasing preventive screenings, the numbers continue to climb.
Christina Mintner, Associate Chief Operating Officer for Ambulatory Care Services, delivers opening remarks and congratulations to award winners.
“Quality is the anchor of health care,” said Associate Chief Operating Officer for Ambulatory Care Services Christina Mintner. “It’s not just a department or a policy, and it’s definitely not achieved alone. Everyone in this room has played a hand in quality.”
The real winners are patients, said Chief Physician of the Community Physicians Group (CPG) Allen Hall in his opening remarks. “We’re always trying to raise the bar.”
Only, in many cases the bar is already so high that some clinics squeak into the winning spot by just a few tenths of a percentage point.
The competition is fierce (and friendly). Ahead of the event, “I had a few managers ask, ‘Can you give me a wink of we won an award?’” said Executive Director for Primary Care Clinics Brandon Harris.
“I’ve even had someone try to bribe me into misreading the results,” laughed Associate Medical Director for CPG Anca Knoepfler.
But the trophies don’t lie. Here are the true, deserving first place winners:
The awards and winners
Pediatric Immunizations: Davis Pediatrics (87.5%)
HPV Immunizations: Midtown Pediatrics (66.2%)
Pediatric Developmental Screening and Documentation: Roseville Pediatrics (94.1%)
Staff Excellence in Working Well Together: ACC Internal Medicine (96.91%)
Advanced Care Planning: Folsom clinic (82.1%)
Blood Pressure Screening: Elk Grove clinic (99.01%)
Blood Pressure Control: Rocklin clinic (81.2%)
Diabetic A1C Control: Auburn clinic (82.6%)
Breast Cancer Screening: Davis clinic (85%)
Cervical Cancer Screening: Auburn clinic (86.25%)
Colorectal Cancer Screening: Auburn clinic (85%)
Chlamydia Screening: Midtown clinic (59.5%)*
Adult Depression Screening and Follow-Up: Carmichael clinic (80.2%)
Pediatric Depression Screening and Follow-Up: Midtown Pediatrics (76.8%)
Adult Influenza Vaccinations: Elk Grove clinic (98.1%)
Retinopathy Screening: Midtown clinic (76.36%)*
Physician Communication, Clinic: ACC Internal Medicine (97.82%)
Physician Communication, Top New Physician: Erin Baroni, Midtown Clinic (98.68%)
Physician Communication, Top Performing Physician: Katie Newell, ACC Internal Medicine (99.77%)
Quality Improvement Medical Assistant Appreciation: The behind-the-scenes helpers who spend time calling patients, scheduling appointments and collecting completed care gap work from external locations. The team works with the clinics to relieve some of the burden of closing care gaps so providers can take more time to focus on other issues for patients. With their support in FY25, we increased many focus metrics 4-15% for completion rates.
UC Davis School of Medicine Outstanding Preceptor: Michael Boyd, Auburn clinic
UC Davis Schools of Health, Outstanding Teaching Site: Folsom clinic
UC Davis Schools of Health, Outstanding Practice Manager: Adan Gonzalez, Midtown clinic
