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"BEST
IN THE WEST"
UCLA Medical Center ranks as the best hospital in the Western
United States for the 16th
consecutive year, according to a U.S. News & World Report
survey
that reviewed patient outcomes data, reputation among physicians
and other care-related factors.
The
16th annual guide to “America’s best hospitals” highlights
the magazine’s July 18 edition. The rankings also are available
on the Internet at www.usnews.com.
According to a statement from the magazine, the hospitals that
make the U.S. News & World Report honor roll are often centers
that treat the sickest patients, perform higher volumes of
complicated procedures and not only follow, but often propose,
advanced treatment guidelines. U.S. News states, "these
hospitals conduct research that migrates from labs and computer
databases to the bedside. And they take advantage of improvements
in imaging, surgical devices and other technologies."
UCLA Medical Center is
the only Southern California hospital to earn a spot on the
magazine’s “honor roll” rankings during the 16 years U.S.
News has conducted the survey. The honor roll recognizes hospitals
that demonstrate excellence across many specialties.
According to a
statement from the magazine, the hospitals that make the U.S. News
& World Report honor roll are often centers that treat the
sickest patients, perform higher volumes of complicated procedures
and not only follow, but often propose, advanced treatment
guidelines.
U.S. News states,
“They conduct bench-to-bedside research. And they exploit
advances in imaging, surgical devices, and other technologies.
It’s an elite group.”
“Our
doctors, nurses and staff help the sick, advance medical knowledge
and pursue scientific research so that the people of Los Angeles
and beyond have access to the highest quality medical care,”
said Dr. David Callender, associate vice chancellor of UCLA
Hospital Systems and director of UCLA Medical Center. “As we
celebrate our 50th anniversary, this is a wonderful tribute to our
outstanding medical and nursing staffs, and the entire health care
team at UCLA Medical Center.”
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Medical Breakthroughs | A Revolutionary Era in Medicine |
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The following medical advances took place at UCLA Medical Center in the past 50 years: |
1950s
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| 1956 |
UCLA surgeons perform the first open-heart surgery in the western United States. |
| 1958 |
UCLA researchers develop the first techniques for fetal monitoring. |
1960s
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| 1960 |
UCLA surgeons perform the first mother-to-daughter kidney transplant in the western United States. |
1970s
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| 1975 |
UCLA develops durable artificial hip, called the “chamfer cylinder design surface.” |
| 1976 |
UCLA surgeons perform the first total shoulder replacement. |
1980s
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| 1980s |
UCLA Medical Center is the first to provide clinical PET scan services. |
| 1981 |
UCLA physicians reported the nation's — and the world's — first cases of AIDS. |
| 1985 |
UCLA doctors non-surgically remove kidney stones with a lithotripter for the first time on the west coast. |
1990s
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| 1992 |
Dr. Hillel Laks pioneers the country's first Alternative Heart Transplant Program, and is the first U.S. cardiac surgeon to perform bypass surgery on a donor heart prior to transplantation. |
| 1992 |
UCLA surgeons and transplant specialists led by Dr. Ronald Busuttil perform the first combined small bowel/liver transplant in the western United States. Until January 1992, this type of transplant had been successfully performed only 14 times worldwide. The 20-year-old patient recovers and resumes a normal life. |
2000s
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| 2002 |
UCLA cardiothoracic surgeons use a new technique to harvest an artery from a patient's wrist for heart bypass surgery. The procedure, performed for the first time on the West Coast, is a called an endoscopic radial artery harvesting technique. |
| 2002 |
Dr. Ronald W. Busuttil performs the nation's first combined unrelated living liver and "domino" transplant in response to the national shortage of livers for transplant. Two patients waiting for a liver transplant are saved by this procedure, in which part of an unrelated donor's liver is transplanted into one patient whose genetically deficient liver was removed from his body and transplanted into the second patient who suffered from a cancerous liver. The donated liver, while not quite perfect, would dramatically extend her life expectancy |
| 2002 |
A team of more than 50 surgeons, nurses and technicians led by Dr. Jorge Lazareff and Dr. Henry Kawamoto successfully separated 2-year-old craniopagus twin girls from Guatemala in a 22-hour surgery. Fused at the tops of their heads, craniopagus twins are among the rarest of conjoined twins, accounting for just 2 percent of cases worldwide. |
| 2005 |
UCLA Medical Center becomes the world's first hospital to introduce remote presence robots in its neurosurgery intensive care unit. The RP-6 robot, made by InTouch Health Inc. in Santa Barbara, Calif., allows doctors to "virtually" consult with patients, family members and health care staff at a moment's notice, even if miles away from the hospital. |
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"UCLA Medical Center is a true jewel in the Los Angeles and Southern California community," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "We are privileged to have a healthcare innovator in our city consistently known worldwide for its cutting-edge technological contributions, outstanding medical research and compassionate patient care. And we can be very proud of the fact that UCLA Medical Center has trained nearly 15,000 doctors who now serve the local, national and international community."
"The partnership between the Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine has resulted in extraordinary progress in medicine," said Levey. "UCLA researchers and clinicians have broken ground in every field of medicine. With accomplishments spanning every discipline, UCLA Medical Center truly has reason to celebrate." |
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