Scripps Hospital Exceeds All Others in County for Key Heart Surgery

Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla was the only hospital in San Diego County rated above average for outcomes in coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) with a valve replacement or repair, according to a report released recently by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). All hospitals within the state that perform CABG surgeries are required to submit data to OSHPD through the California CABG Outcomes Reporting Program. 

The annual report provides an overview of the quality of the most common open heart surgeries (CABG and CABG plus valve) performed in California by rating hospitals as average, better than average or worse than average in four separate outcome categories.

Only five other hospitals in the state received better than average ratings for CABG with a valve replacement or repair. No other hospital in San Diego County received a better than average rating in any of the other measured categories.

“This rating is the direct result of the exceptional care that is delivered every day by the cardiovascular surgeons at Scripps La Jolla and the multidisciplinary team that cares for our patients,” said Scripps cardiovascular surgeon Scot Brewster, MD, who is president of the Scripps Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Group. “This is a strong indicator of the overall quality of Scripps’ heart programs and its surgeons who perform almost 1,000 cardiovascular surgeries each year.”

Earlier this month, U.S. News & World Report ranked the combined cardiology programs at Scripps La Jolla and Scripps Green Hospital No. 1 in San Diego County and No. 21 nationally in the magazine’s prestigious annual Best Hospitals list. Scripps is the largest provider of heart medicine services in the region, caring for more than 76,000 cardiovascular patients every year. Its Prebys Cardiovascular Institute, located on the Scripps La Jolla campus, brings together leading researchers, physicians, staff and technologies in the most advanced center dedicated to heart care on the West Coast.

The OSHPD report, which looked at 2014 hospital data, is designed to make heart bypass surgery outcomes in the state more transparent and to improve patient care, according to the state agency. Four outcome measures – operative mortality, post-operative stroke, hospital readmission and use of internal mammary artery for bypass graft – were evaluated, and the results were risk-adjusted to reflect the fact that some hospitals and surgeons care for sicker patients.

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.