UC Irvine Medical Center is ranked among America’s best for 12th year in a row

For the 12th consecutive
year, UC Irvine Medical Center has been ranked among the nation’s best
hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Its geriatrics program placed 35th
among the country’s top 50. The annual “America’s Best Hospitals” listing is
currently available online.

“We are proud of the outstanding
care our physicians, nurses and staff provide the people of Orange County
as shown by our consistent recognition as a top hospital,” said Terry A.
Belmont, CEO of UC Irvine Medical Center.
“We are committed to delivering compassionate, quality-driven and world-class
patient care.”

UC Irvine’s geriatrics program is a
national and international leader in the clinical care of older adults. The SeniorHealth Center
in Orange is staffed
by an interdisciplinary team led by geriatricians trained to deliver primary
care and offer consultations about specific concerns, such as frailty, memory
loss, depression and falls.

“We do our utmost to provide superb
medical care in a loving environment,” said Dr. Laura Mosqueda, chair of UC
Irvine’s Department of Family Medicine, director of its geriatrics program and
Ronald Reagan Chair in Geriatrics.

She said the geriatrics team –
which includes physicians, pharmacologists, psychologists, social workers,
nurses and others – places a major emphasis on enhancing quality of life for
patients and their families through a holistic approach.

Innovative offerings include:

• Health
  Assessment Program for Seniors – a comprehensive
  physical, cognitive and psychological evaluation to help older adults with
  complex concerns enhance their quality of life;
• Memory Disorder Clinic – a service at the SeniorHealth Center in which neurologists,
  geriatricians and neuropsychologists seek to identify causes of memory
  impairment; and
• IMPACT – a
  program that complements clinical care with treatment of depression and
  anxiety in older adults.

Furthermore, UC Irvine’s geriatrics
program has been a pioneer in the effort to raise awareness and reduce the
incidence of elder abuse in the U.S.
In September 2011, the federal Administration on Aging named it the National Center on Elder Abuse.

UC Irvine is the only Orange County
medical center consistently rated among America’s best hospitals by U.S.
News & World Report. Since 2001, the magazine has bestowed national
recognition on its programs in urology, gynecology, cancer, digestive
disorders, kidney disease, and ear, nose & throat.

Last year, U.S. News & World
Report released its first-ever regional hospital rankings online. UC Irvine is
currently cited as Orange
County’s top hospital and
fifth-best among Los Angeles-area medical centers. The publication noted its
excellence in 10
specialties.

In addition, UC Irvine’s medical faculty
has more of Orange
County’s “Best Doctors” than any other local hospital.

For the 2012 “America’s Best
Hospitals” listing, U.S. News & World Report evaluated about 5,000 medical
centers nationwide and ranked fewer than 150 of them, or 3 percent, in at least
one of 16 specialties based on their ability to treat the most challenging
cases. Using methodology created by RTI International, the magazine assessed
each hospital’s reputation, mortality rate and patient care services.
Additional points were awarded for Magnet status in nursing or designation as a
Level I trauma center – both of which apply to UC Irvine Medical Center.

About UC Irvine Medical Center: Orange County’s only
university hospital, UC Irvine Medical Center offers acute- and general-care
services at its new, 482,000-square-foot UC Irvine Douglas Hospital and is home
to the county’s only Level I trauma center, American College of Surgeons-verified
regional burn center and National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive
cancer center. For 12 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has counted
UC Irvine among “America’s
Best Hospitals.”

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is
a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community
service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most
dynamic campuses in the University
of California system,
with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000
staff. Orange County’s second-largest employer, UCI
contributes an annual economic impact of $4 billion. For more UCI news, visit
www.today.uci.edu.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting
interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a
fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UCI faculty and
experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the
university.