A new hospital safety report released Wednesday shows that 113 hospitals in California earned "A" grades for their ability to protect patients from often preventable harm.
The Leapfrog Group's Spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grades are a biannual ranking that assigns "A," "B," "C," "D" or "F" letter grades to all general hospitals in the United States based on their ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections.
Kaiser Permanente Orange County - Anaheim Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Orange County - Irvine Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center
Keck Hospital of USC
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda University Medical Center East Campus
Loma Linda University Medical Center - Murrieta
Marian Regional Medical Center
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital
Mercy Medical Center
Mercy San Juan Medical Center
Methodist Hospital of Sacramento
Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
Montclair Hospital Medical Center
Northridge Hospital Medical Center-Roscoe Boulevard Campus
Novato Community Hospital
Palmdale Regional Medical Center
Paradise Valley Hospital
Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center
Scripps Green Hospital
Scripps Memorial Hospital of Encinitas
Sequoia Hospital
Shasta Regional Medical Center
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital
St. John’s Hospital Camarillo
Stanford Health Care
Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
UC San Diego Health La Jolla - Jacobs Medical Center and Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center
Woodland Memorial Hospital
"A" hospitals are:
Adventist Health - Bakersfield
Adventist Health - Delano
Adventist Health Sonora
Adventist Health Specialty Bakersfield
Adventist Health Tulare
Adventist Health White Memorial
AHMC Anaheim Regional Medical Center
Alameda Hospital
Alhambra Hospital Medical Center
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center
Anaheim Global Medical Center
Arroyo Grande Community Hospital
Barton Memorial Hospital
California Pacific Medical Center - Mission Bernal Campus
Chino Valley Medical Center
Coast Plaza Hospital
Corona Regional Medical Center
Desert Valley Hospital
Eden Medical Center
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center
JFK Memorial Hospital
Kaiser Permanente - Los Angeles Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente - Moreno Valley Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente - Panorama City Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente - West Los Angeles Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente San Leandro Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center
Kaweah Health
Marshall Medical Center
Memorial Hospital Los Banos
Memorial Medical Center
MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center
Natividad Medical Center
Palomar Medical Center Poway
Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center
Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance
Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach
Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center
Providence St. Jude Medical Center
Salinas Valley Health Medical Center
San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
Scripps Mercy Hospital of Chula Vista
Scripps Mercy Hospital of San Diego
St. Francis Medical Center
St. John's Regional Medical Center of Oxnard
Sutter Amador Hospital
Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital
Sutter Coast Hospital
Sutter Davis Hospital
Sutter Delta Medical Center
Sutter Medical Center
Sutter Roseville Medical Center
Sutter Solano Medical Center
Temecula Valley Hospital
UC San Diego Health East Campus - East Campus Medical Center
UC San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Medical Center
UCI Health – Orange
USC Verdugo Hills Hospital
Washington Hospital Healthcare System
Watsonville Community Hospital
Whittier Hospital Medical Center
"B" hospitals are:
60th Medical Group, Travis AFB
Adventist Health and Rideout
Adventist Health Lodi Memorial
Adventist Health St. Helena
AHMC Seton Medical Center
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center - Alta Bates Campus
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
California Pacific Medical Center - Davies Campus
California Pacific Medical Center - Van Ness Campus
Cedars-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital
Centinela Hospital Medical Center
Desert Regional Medical Center
Dominican Hospital
El Camino Hospital
Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital
Encino Hospital Medical Center
Enloe Health
Greater El Monte Community Hospital
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center
Huntington Hospital
John Muir Health Medical Center Concord
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Fremont
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Richmond
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Roseville
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Sacramento
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Jose
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Santa Rosa
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Vallejo
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Walnut Creek
Kaiser Permanente - San Marcos Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente - South Bay Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente - Woodland Hills Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center
Kern Medical
La Palma Intercommunity Hospital
Los Angeles County - Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Los Angeles General Medical Center
Los Robles Health System - Los Robles Regional Medical Center
MarinHealth Medical Center
MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center
Mercy General Hospital
Mercy Hospital - Downtown
Mercy Hospital - Southwest
Mercy Hospital of Folsom
Mercy Medical Center of Redding
Monterey Park Hospital
Naval Medical Center San Diego
NorthBay Medical Center
Palomar Medical Center Escondido
Petaluma Valley Hospital
Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro
Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka
Regional Medical Center of San Jose
Riverside University Health System - Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
San Dimas Community Hospital
San Gabriel Valley Medical Center
San Leandro Hospital
Scripps Memorial Hospital of La Jolla
Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center
Sharp Coronado Hospital and Healthcare Center
Sharp Grossmont Hospital
Sharp Memorial Hospital
Sherman Oaks Hospital
South Coast Global Medical Center
St. Bernardine Medical Center
St. Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton
St. Mary Medical Center of Long Beach
Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley
Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
UCI Health - Fountain Valley
UCLA Medical Center of Santa Monica
UCSF Health - Mission Bay
UCSF Health, Saint Francis Hospital
UCSF Health, St. Mary’s Hospital
UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion
Valley Presbyterian Hospital
West Anaheim Medical Center
Additionally, 67 hospitals received a "C" and four —El Centro Regional Medical Center, Los Angeles Community Hospital, Norwalk Community Hospital, Pioneers Memorial Hospital — got a "D" grade.
Patch has reached out to those hospitals for a response to the ranking.
Norwalk Community Hospital's grade is an improvement from last year's "F" grade. At the time, hospital officials told Patch, "The grades issued to our California hospitals do not accurately reflect their safety levels. The grades are based on incomplete information as we are in the process of submitting a late response. We expect that our hospitals will receive higher safety grades once our responses are submitted.”
California ranks 10th among all states for the percentage of hospitals receiving "A" grades in the spring 2026 report card.
Leapfrog said its biannual report — the only national ratings program focused exclusively on patient safety — shows improvement in 17 measures, including health care-associated infections, medication safety systems and patient experience.
"The good news is that hospitals across the country are making meaningful strides in patient safety and helping save countless lives," Leah Binder, the group's president and CEO, said in a news release.
After peaking in fall 2022, several health care-associated infections declined sharply, according to the report. Central line-associated bloodstream infections fell by half; catheter-associated urinary tract infections dropped 45 percent; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections declined 42 percent; and serious intestinal infections linked to antibiotic use went down 30 percent.
The report also found gains in medication safety. Use of computerized physician order entry systems, which can flag prescribing errors, rose from 66 percent of hospitals meeting Leapfrog standards in 2018 to 90 percent in 2025. Adoption of barcode medication administration systems increased from 47 percent to 93 percent over the same period.
Patient experience scores, measured through Medicare and other federal surveys, have improved since hitting a low in fall 2023, rising by about one point on average across five safety-related measures, including communication with nurses and doctors and responsiveness of hospital staff.
Among states, Connecticut, Virginia and South Carolina had the highest share of A-rated hospitals, followed by Utah, Montana, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and California. Montana and Maryland entered the top 10 for the first time, while Florida rose from 15th place in fall 2025 to seventh. No hospitals in North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont or Wyoming received an A grade.
About 450 hospitals were not assigned grades after a federal court ruling in South Florida involving several facilities that did not participate in Leapfrog's 2024 or 2025 survey. The group said it applied the change nationwide and is appealing the decision while reviewing its methodology.