SMUCLA Makes the “Grade”

Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital has earned high marks from one of the country’s best-known rating agencies for hospital quality.

HealthGrades, which assesses the quality of care provided at 5,000 hospitals nationwide and makes specific ratings available to consumers on its website, designated SMUCLA as a “Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence” in 2009.

Only 270 hospitals – or about five percent of those assessed – are honored in this category. SMUCLA was the only UC facility to make the grade. Specifically, the hospital was cited for excellence in the following areas:

• Cardiac care
• Stroke care
• Critical care
• Pulmonary medicine
• G.I. care

“We’re extremely proud of this accomplishment,” said Posie Carpenter, the hospital’s chief administrative officer. “It provides further validation that we’re transforming our hospital and, in doing so, improving the patient experience for everyone we serve.”