Dominican Hospital Excels In 2 Areas: Report

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Dominican Hospital was snubbed on a recent ranking of the best hospitals in the state and nation, but was recognized for its high performance in five specialty areas.

The 2021-22 Best Hospitals rankings, released Tuesday by U.S. News and World Report, rates the best overall hospitals as well as others that consistently deliver the best care.

To compile the rankings, U.S. News compared more than 4,750 medical centers nationwide in 15 specialties and 17 procedures and conditions including cardiology, neurology, geriatrics, orthopedics and more.

U.S. News also added seven new procedures or conditions to the rankings this year, including heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, diabetes, kidney failure, hip fracture and back surgery.

The goal of the rankings is to help patients choose a hospital based on the specific type of care they need.

Dominican Hospital was considered to be high-performing in the areas of heart failure and stroke. It fell short when it came to the specialties of abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and back surgery, but ranked average in all other areas.

The hospital received three of five stars for its patient experience.

Also in Santa Cruz County, Watsonville Community Hospital was recognized for its high performance in pneumonia and ranked below average when it came to heart attacks.

Data used to determine this year’s best hospitals came from a period predating the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning rankings were not affected by the pandemic’s effect on hospitals.

The methodology for the rankings is based largely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and discharge-to-home rates, volume and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators.

Learn more about the Best Hospitals methodology.

Of the hospitals analyzed by U.S. News, 531 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 that made it to this year’s Honor Roll, which recognizes the top hospitals nationwide that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. claimed the No. 1 spot on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll, while Cleveland Clinic ranked No. 2, followed by UCLA Medical Center at No. 3.

In the specialty rankings, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked No. 1 in cancer, the Cleveland Clinic is No. 1 in cardiology and heart surgery, and Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City is No. 1 in orthopedics.

See this year’s full Best Hospitals ranking.