San Joaquin Community Hospital (SJCH) has been rated high performing – the top ranking possible – by U.S. News & World Report in two common medical conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Heart Failure.
This marks the second year in a row SJCH has earned the COPD distinction and the first year for the Heart Failure status from U.S. News. These awards represent better care and better outcomes for patients treated at SJCH compared with other local hospitals and those across the nation.
“At San Joaquin Community Hospital, our caregivers come to work to provide the people of this community with the best care possible,” said Douglas Duffield, SJCH President and CEO. “These awards are further evidence of our staff’s commitment to providing consistent, quality care to every patient, every time.”
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The U.S. News analysis of hospitals uses methodologies that include objective measures such as patient survival, the number of times a given procedure is performed, infection rates, adequacy of nurse staffing and more.
A rating is then assigned that evaluates hospitals for certain common medical procedures and conditions. Instead of a numerical ranking, hospitals are given a scorecard rating of high performing, average or below average in each category.
If a hospital earns a high performing rating – as SJCH did for both the COPD and Heart Failure categories – this indicates the care received at that facility was significantly better than the national average.
“U.S. News evaluates nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “A hospital that emerged from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of.”
SJCH is the first and only hospital in Kern County to receive High Performing recognition from U.S. News and World Report for COPD care and Heart Failure.
