If a medical emergency strikes and you’re rushed to a hospital in Stockton or a nearby city, you’re in luck. The quality of care in San Joaquin County is, by and large, pretty good.
So say ratings maintained by Medicare, the federal government’s health insurance program for seniors.
On a five-star scale — with five being highest — Medicare singled out three hospitals as best locally: Dignity Health’s St. Joseph’s Medical Center of Stockton, Sutter Tracy Community Hospital and Kaiser Foundation Hospital Manteca. The three tied for highest ratings among the region’s seven acute-care hospitals. All have four stars for overall quality and three stars when rated by patients.
Reached for comment, David Ziolkowski, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s, said in an email to Stocktonia that the medical center is “incredibly proud” to have achieved its four-star rating, having improved from three stars.
“This remarkable accomplishment is a direct reflection of the tireless hard work, unwavering dedication and profound commitment to compassion and excellence shown by our physicians, nurses and staff,” Ziolkowski said. “Their relentless efforts and collaboration have elevated our care, and we celebrate their extraordinary work as we continue our mission to provide exceptional, patient-centered care with human kindness to the Stockton community.”
St. Joseph, Sutter Tracy and Kaiser Manteca also received a letter grade “A” for hospital safety from Leapfrog Group, which rates hospitals for how well they protect patients from medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
Behind the top three was Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, with three stars for both overall quality and patient ratings. Dameron Hospital in Stockton also rated three stars on overall quality, but had only two stars when rated by patients.
San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp and Doctors Hospital of Manteca each had two stars in both overall care and patient surveys.
Unlike many communities around the state, greater Stockton has no one-star hospitals. It also has no five-star hospitals.
Medicare, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says on its website that the star ratings are based on key metrics that include factors such as readmissions and deaths after heart attacks or pneumonia. Five “measure groups” rate mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care.
Some new or small hospitals are not rated by Medicare because they may not be able to report on all the data points. The latest ratings were recorded Aug. 6.
Nationally, 233 hospitals — or 8.1% — got one star. An additional 291 — or 10.1% — earned five stars, Medicare data shows.
Hospitals in both the lower and upper echelons are a bit of a drive for San Joaquin County residents. Doctors Medical Center in Modesto got only one star for its overall care in Medicare’s rankings, although it’s rated two stars by patients. The closest five-star hospitals are more than an hour away, with one in Woodland, west of Sacramento (Woodland Memorial Hospital), and another in Oakland (Alta Bates Summit Medical Center).
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