Today, Healthgrades announced America’s 100 Best Hospitals for 2023, naming Kaweah Health Medical Center one of the 20 hospitals in California and the only hospital in the San Joaquin Valley from Kern to Madera counties to earn the distinction, according to new research released by the company. This achievement puts Kaweah Health in the top 2 percent of hospitals nationwide for overall clinical performance across the most common conditions and procedures.
“This is the first time in our history that we’ve been named one of the best 100, and while what we do is not for the awards or praise, it’s wonderful to see our team get recognized by a third party for the great work they do,” said Gary Herbst, Kaweah Health’s Chief Executive Officer. “I know we’re not perfect; it’s an endless journey to get better and better. But our team of physicians, advance practice providers, our staff – they are incredible, amazing, talented, dedicated people who are committed to this community. As a local public non-profit organization, we exist solely to care for our community, something that we are very passionate about.”
To determine America’s 100 Best Hospitals for 2023, Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates for 31 of the most common conditions and procedures at nearly 4,500 hospitals across the country to identify the top-performing hospitals. Healthgrades’ analysis revealed significant variation between America’s Best 100 Hospitals and hospitals that did not receive the distinction. In fact, if all hospitals performed similarly to America’s 100 Best, over 158,000 lives could have been saved each year.* Additionally, patients treated at one of the 2023 America’s 100 Best Hospitals have, on average, a 25.5% lower risk of dying than if they were treated at a hospital that did not receive the America’s 100 Best Hospitals award.*
According to the 2023 Healthgrades report to the Nation, Kaweah Health Medical Center is the Central Valley’s most recognized hospital for 2023. Among the many awards received, Kaweah Health is one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery, and is the only hospital in California to be named among the top 5% of hospitals nationwide for Cardiac Surgery for the last six years in a row (2018-2023).
“We’re proud to recognize Kaweah Health as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for 2023,” said Brad MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science at Healthgrades. “As one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals, Kaweah Health consistently delivers better-than-expected outcomes for the patients in their community and is setting a high national standard for clinical excellence.”
This distinction is one in a series of recognitions that Kaweah Health has received in recent months that speaks to quality of care. In November 2022, Kaweah Health received its third consecutive ‘A’ grade from the Leapfrog Group, putting it among the safest hospitals in America, according to the independent national watchdog organization.
Visit Healthgrades.com/quality/americas-best-hospitals for an in-depth look at Kaweah Health’s performance and profile to explore the highest quality care in California’s Central Valley today. Consumers can also visit Healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality, and access the complete methodology here. A patient-friendly overview of the complete methodology is available here.