Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare Named Among Best US Hospitals: US News

PLEASANTON, CA — Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare in Pleasanton was ranked the 46th best overall hospital in California, tying with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center locations in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Leandro, among others.

The hospital recently bought a five-building office complex inside the Hacienda Lakes office center in Pleasanton for $58.4 million, numerous outlets reported. To reflect its desired expansion into the Tri-Valley, the hospital plans to change its name to Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley later this month.

U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals in 15 specialties and 19 procedures and conditions, adding rankings for ovarian cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery and uterine cancer surgery to its 2022 list.

The 2022-23 rankings also took into account several health equity measures for the first time, noting hospitals which provide more care to low income patients and those which have racial disparities in medical and surgical outcomes.

The rankings are meant to help patients and doctors make health care decisions, according to Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor of U.S. News.

ValleyCare received high rankings in treating heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hip replacements, hip fractures, kidney failure, pneumonia, and uterine cancer surgery.

Fifty-eight hospitals in California were ranked among the best in the country. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles were ranked the top in California, with Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto coming third. Cedars-Sinai also ranked second in the country (UCLA was fourth), behind the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic ranked first for the seventh year in a row.

U.S. News made several adjustments in its evaluation of hospital visits in 2020 to normalize its 2022 rankings against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rankings excluded all hospital visits in March 2020 as well as visits in which a patient was diagnosed with COVID-19. Visits to any hospital were excluded if they occurred during a month of 2020 in which the hospital’s COVID-19 rate exceeded the national average.

Learn more about the U.S. News Best Hospitals methodology.

Of the hospitals evaluated, 164 earned top 50 rankings in at least one of the specialty care categories, and nearly 500 were recognized as Best Regional Hospitals, based on their strong performance in multiple areas of care.

In addition to state, regional and specialty rankings, U.S. News also announced the 20 hospitals named to this year’s Honor Roll, which recognizes the top hospitals nationwide that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.
Among notable specialties, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is the top-ranked hospital for cancer, the Cleveland Clinic is No. 1 in cardiology and heart surgery and NYU Langone Hospitals is the top hospital in neurology and neurosurgery.

See this year’s Best Hospital Rankings.