Awards and Recognition | Medical Center | UC Davis Health

UC Davis Medical Center ranked as one of the nation’s best hospitals for 2024-25 in eight adult medical specialties, according to the annual U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals survey published in July 2024. The annual ranking analyzes nearly 5,000 hospitals and recognizes those that excel in treating the most serious and challenging injuries and illnesses.

UC Davis ranked among the U.S. top 50 in:

• cancer
• cardiology, heart & vascular surgery
• diabetes & endocrinology
• ENT
• geriatrics
• neurology & neurosurgery
• orthopedics
• pulmonology & lung surgery

The medical center was once again No. 1 in the Sacramento area, and among the top 10 in California.

U.S. News & World Report also rated UC Davis Medical Center the top level of “high-performing” in several common types of health procedures and conditions, including:

• back surgery, COPD, and pneumonia
• colon cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, and leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma
• gynecological cancer surgery
• prostate cancer surgery
• heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
• hip fracture
• kidney failure

U.S. News & World Report named UC Davis Children’s Hospital among the nation’s best children’s hospitals for 2024-2025, and also ranked among the nations 50 best in five specialty care areas:

• nephrology (23rd)
• neonatology (26th)
• orthopedics, in collaboration with longstanding partner Shriners Children’s (32nd)
• pulmonology and lung surgery (36th)
• behavioral health (top 50)

UC Davis Children's Hospital also ranked 7th in California and 8th in the Pacific Region, which includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. 

UC Davis Medical Center was granted the nation’s highest form of recognition for nursing excellence, Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), again in 2023.

Less than 10 percent of U.S. hospitals generally carry Magnet® designation, which is valid for four years and a benchmark for the quality of care patients receive.

UC Davis School of Medicine named among the top institutions in the country for training students to practice in primary care settings. 

In its annual list of best medical schools for 2024, U.S. News & World Report listed UC Davis in the Tier 1, or top, category for its leadership in educating students to work as primary care doctors. It also ranked No. 22 in the country for medical school graduates who practice in primary care settings (up from No. 37 the year before). In addition, the medical school was placed in Tier 2 for research.

Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis ranks among the best graduate schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

In its list of the nation’s best nursing schools for 2024, the publication ranked the School of Nursing’s master’s-degree programs in nursing as 24th, tied with two other schools. The rankings include the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing and the master’s degree family nurse practitioner (F.N.P.) program. The Master of Health Services – Physician Assistant (P.A.) Studies Degree Program placed #40 (tie) in the most recent multi-year rankings, issued in 2023.

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only two such centers in Northern California to hold “comprehensive” designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The designation is the world’s most prestigious honor in oncology, awarded to only about 1% of cancer centers nationwide.

UC Davis Medical Center has been nationally recognized as a top performing hospital according to research released by Healthgrades, a website consumers use to choose hospitals and doctors.

Receiving America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award for 2024 means the medical center is among the top 2% of hospitals nationwide for overall clinical performance. UC Davis has been one of Healthgrades America’s 250 Best Hospitals for five-consecutive years.

UC Davis Medical Center has been recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals by the 2024 edition of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Great hospitals in America” list. UC Davis is one of 11 hospitals recognized in California and the only north of San Francisco on the list.

The internationally known UC Davis MIND Institute has achieved status as one of nine National Institutes of Health-supported Autism Centers of Excellence and as a federally designated Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.

• UC Davis Medical Center was named to Newsweek’s 2024 Best Maternity Hospitals, its fifth year in a row on the list. The distinction recognizes facilities that provide exceptional care to mothers, newborns and their families.
• UC Davis Children's Hospital was listed among Newsweek's 2024 Best Children's Hospitals, the only hospital in Sacramento to be recognized.

UC Davis Medical Center’s obstetric anesthesia service is one of 17 globally to receive the prestigious Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology’s (SOAP) Center of Excellence designation. 

For the 13th consecutive year, UC Davis Medical Center was recognized as a LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader in 2024 by the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people.

The market research company NRC Health has awarded UC Davis Health its Consumer Loyalty Best in Class Award 2024. Each year NRC Health ranks 100 health care facilities based on their consumer loyalty score. Winners lead the industry in delivering exceptional patient experiences.

Nearly 300 UC Davis Health physicians received Top Docs honors in Sactown Magazine’s list published in winter 2024. See the list here

UC Davis Medical Center is recognized as one of Money-Leapfrog’s 2022 Best Hospitals for Billing Ethics. Money magazine partnered with The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization for health care consumers and purchasers.

UC Davis Health has received Digital Health Most Wired recognition from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). The Most Wired program looks at how well health care organizations use technology to improve the health of their communities. 

UC Davis Health was one of only 17 U.S. hospitals, and the only in California, to achieve the highest level (10) in both acute and ambulatory categories.

UC Davis Medical Group primary care clinics are designated as Patient-Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Medical homes:

• emphasize shared decisions to help patients to make informed choices and receive better results
• stress strong communication and coordination among all of a patient’s health care providers
• offer patients better access through expanded hours and online communication

For three years in a row, UC Davis Health has been honored as a Top 25 hospital for environmental sustainability by Practice Greenhealth. UC Davis Health was also recognized for 2024 for “greening the operating room” and for sustainability practices in procurement, water and green building.

UC Davis Health has been recognized by Health Care Without Harm among the hospitals and health systems that are pioneering innovative and effective solutions to mitigate health care’s climate footprint and enhance their resilience. In winter 2023 UC Davis Health earned Health Care Climate Action recognition, including gold honors for climate resilience and silver for climate leadership.

UC Davis Health appears on Newsweek’s lists of America’s Greatest Workplaces for:

• Diversity 2024
• Women 2024
• LGBTQ 2024
• Job Starters 2024
• Parents and Families 2023

UC Davis Health is recognized by Forbes as:

• No. 51 on the 2024 list of America’s Best Large Employers
• No. 20 on the 2024 list of California's Best Employers
• A Best Employer for Diversity 2024
• A Best Employer for Women 2024

UC Davis Children’s Hospital has been re-verified as a level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the world’s largest scientific and educational association of surgeons. In 2016 UC Davis was the first hospital on the West Coast and fourth in the nation to earn the verification.

UC Davis Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval^® and the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark for Primary Heart Attack Center (PHAC) Certification. PHAC certifications are awarded to centers devoted to consistent, organized, quality care for STEMI/heart attack cases.

UC Davis Medical Center has been recognized with multiple awards by the American Heart Association for commitment to following research-based guidelines for heart disease and stroke treatment.

Get With The Guidelines® awards:

• Heart Failure Gold Plus Award
  Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
• Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Gold Plus
  Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
• Stroke Gold Plus
  Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll
  Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
  Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll
• Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI - Bronze

UC Davis Medical Center has been certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, the organization’s highest level of stroke certification for hospitals with specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.

UC Davis Medical Center has received the Platinum Level ELSO Award for Excellence in Life Support from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) for its lifesaving support for failing organ systems in infants, children and adults. UC Davis is first hospital in California to receive the honor. 

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has recognized several intensive care units at UC Davis Health with Beacon Awards for Excellence. The awards recognize units that set the standard for excellence by using innovation and implementation science to improve patient outcomes. Awardees as of early 2024 included:

• Gold-level awards for UC Davis Medical Center’s Tower 7 Medical Surgical Intensive Care Units (MSICU), the Medical ICU, and the Cardiothoracic Progressive Care Unit
• Silver-level awards for the medical center’s Tower 2 Surgical ICU and the Pavilion PACU and CSC PACU
• Gold-level awards for UC Davis Health’s Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit and the Firefighters Burn Institute Reg Burn Center
• A gold-level award to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UC Davis Children’s Hospital
• A silver-level award for the Children’s Hospital PICU/PCICU. 

UC Davis Medical Center is named among Newsweek and Statista’s list of America’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2024, with recognition in:

• cardiac hospitals
• neurological hospitals
• cancer hospitals
• orthopedics
• children’s hospitals (pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery, neonatology, and neurology and neurosurgery)

The Emergency Nurses Association recognized UC Davis Health as one of the nation’s top 94 emergency departments with the Lantern Award for its commitment to quality, safety, and a healthy work environment. 

The UC Davis Vascular Center’s vein program has been accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) for the evaluation and treatment of venous disorders. Accreditation signifies care in accordance with national standards and benchmarks. 

The Huntington’s Disease Society of America named UC Davis a Level 1 Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence and a Center of Excellence for Family Services and Research.

The UC Davis Comprehensive Epilepsy Program is a member of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers and a self-designated Level 4 Epilepsy Center, signifying highest-level evaluation and treatment abilities for complex epilepsy. 

UC Davis Oncology & Hematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center are recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program, an affiliate of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), for meeting national guidelines and standards for high-quality care.

UC Davis Health has earned Age-Friendly Health Systems designation for:

• UC Davis Medical Center’s inpatient services
• UC Davis Medical Center’s emergency department
• UC Davis Health’s Healthy Aging Clinic for older adults

UC Davis Health has also earned membership in the NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) program at the Senior Friendly level of designation. The measures are all part of UC Davis Health’s Healthy Aging Initiative. 

The geriatric emergency department at UC Davis Medical Center earned Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation at the highest “gold” level from the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2022, becoming one of only 21 other U.S. EDs with gold status.

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. Accreditation acknowledges exceptional educational opportunities that allow health professionals to practice their skills and explore new procedures and technologies. 

UC Davis Health was recognized nationwide as an Emerging Champion of the Frontline Healthcare Worker Recognition program by CareerSTAT. The health system continues to support and invest in education and workforce development for frontline employees. 

The UC Davis Health Specialty Pharmacy has been accredited for the highest level of commitment to quality care, improved processes, best practices, and successful patient outcomes by the nonprofit Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC).

UC Davis Medical Center is Sacramento’s largest farm-to-fork food service, and was honored as the only hospital in the nation – and the only Sacramento venue – recognized as a 2020 Smart Catch Leader by the James Beard Foundation for culinary excellence and sustainable food practices.