Cal Hospital Compare Announces 2025 Maternity Care Honor Roll Hospitals
Sacramento, CA – California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos celebrates the 82 hospitals across the state recognized by Cal Hospital Compare for delivering exceptional maternity care that supports safer births and healthier outcomes for California families.
The 2025 Maternity Care Honor Roll recognizes:
- 54 hospitals that met or exceeded performance targets on five key maternal health measures (see Table 1). This achievement reflects a strong commitment to providing safe, equitable, and patient-centered care to birthing individuals and their newborns.
- 28 hospitals for meeting the statewide NTSV C-section rate target of 23.6% or lower for low-risk, first-time births—a critical benchmark in improving maternal health and reducing unnecessary interventions. This benchmark is based on the NTSV measure: Nulliparous (first-time births), Term (≥37 weeks gestation), Singleton (one baby), and Vertex (baby positioned head-down).
“As an Obstetrician Gynecologist, I am proud to celebrate these hospitals for their leadership and dedication to advancing maternity care in California,” said California Surgeon General. “Their work is essential in achieving our shared goal of improving maternal health and ensuring every mother and birthing person receives safe, high-quality care.”
“In just our second year using the maternity care composite criteria, we’re inspired by the growing momentum and commitment to excellence in maternity care across California,” said Bruce Spurlock, MD, Executive Director of Cal Hospital Compare. “This year, 21 hospitals achieved all five maternity care targets for the first time—a remarkable milestone—while 33 hospitals sustained high performance over two consecutive years. Even more encouraging, 38 hospitals have met or exceeded the statewide C-section target for low-risk, first-time births since 2022. These achievements reflect the dedication of hospitals across the state to continuously improve care and create healthier beginnings for California families.”
Table 1:
Honor roll hospitals that met or exceeded performance targets on five maternal health measures
| Adventist Health Clear Lake | Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center |
| Adventist Health Delano | Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center |
| Adventist Health Rideout Hospital | Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center |
| Arrowhead Regional Medical Center | Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta |
| Barton Memorial Hospital | Marin Health Medical Center |
| Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula | Olive View – UCLA Medical Center |
| Community Memorial Hospital Ventura location | Palomar Medical Center Escondido |
| Community Regional Medical Center | Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center |
| Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center | Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance |
| Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta | Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center |
| Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center Redding | Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka |
| Dignity Health St. Bernardine Medical Center | Providence St. Jude Medical Center |
| Doctors Medical Center of Modesto | Providence St. Mary Medical Center – Apple Valley |
| Eden Medical Center | Rancho Springs Medical Center |
| El Camino Hospital Los Gatos | San Joaquin General Hospital |
| Enloe Medical Center – Esplanade Campus | Scripps Memorial Hospital – Encinitas |
| Good Samaritan Hospital – San Jose | Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego |
| Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital | St. Louise Regional Hospital |
| Hi-Desert Medical Center | Sutter Lakeside Hospital |
| Highland Hospital | Sutter Tracy Community Hospital |
| Hoag Hospital Irvine | Tahoe Forest Hospital |
| Jacobs Medical Center | UC San Diego Health’s Hillcrest medical campus |
| Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center | UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center |
| Kaiser Permanente Modesto Medical Center | Ventura County Medical Center |
| Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center | Watsonville Community Hospital |
| Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center | Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center |
For almost a decade, as part of Cal Hospital Compare’s Maternity Care Honor Roll, California has recognized hospitals that meet or exceed a C-section statewide target for low-risk, first births. While there continues to be substantial variation among individual hospital NTSV C-section rates, more and more hospitals are getting closer to this goal. Given NTSV C-sections are just one component of a hospital’s maternity services, Cal Hospital Compare established a new, more holistic methodology in 2024 that builds off the historical recognition program, to recognize hospitals providing high quality maternity care services.
The composite measure identifies hospitals that meet or exceed performance standards for five maternal health metrics, including NTSV C-section rate, surgical site infection after a C-section, vaginal birth after a C-section (also known as a VBAC), episiotomy, and early elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks gestational age. These measures represent a cross section of perinatal health metrics for birthing people undergoing a vaginal or cesarean birth and their newborns.
At the advice of the Maternity Care Honor Roll workgroup, Technical Advisory Committee, and Board of Directors, future iterations of this honor roll may consider additional maternal health outcome and process metrics for both birthing people and babies, maternal morbidity and mortality rates by race/ethnicity, and metrics that represent social drivers of health.
California’s national leadership in maternity care is driven in part by our hospitals’ ability to leverage robust data to identify gaps in care and inequities, and continually improve care,” said Deirdre J. Lyell, MD, Co-chair and Co-principal Investigator of CMQCC. “CMQCC’s Maternal Data Center is used by medical teams caring for approximately 95% of women and pregnant people giving birth at California hospitals. Cal Hospital Compare’s Maternity Care Honor Roll showcases outstanding hospitals’ work and gaps in care that can be addressed through quality improvement efforts, and most importantly, feedback from patients and families.”
“Advancing the quality of maternity care in California hospitals remains a top priority,” said California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos. “The Maternity Care Honor Roll, presented by Cal Hospital Compare, recognizes hospitals that are leading the way in providing safe, evidence-based care for mothers and babies. We’re proud to celebrate these high performers and highlight the continued opportunity for progress across our healthcare system.”
“Cal Hospital Compare is honored to support California’s ongoing commitment to improving maternity care and maternal health outcomes,” said Bruce Spurlock, MD, Executive Director of Cal Hospital Compare. “By offering a clear and comprehensive view of hospital performance, the Maternity Care Honor Roll empowers hospitals to assess their progress, celebrate success, and identify areas for continued improvement. We encourage all hospitals to use this tool to drive excellence in maternal care.”
To access the 2025 Maternity Care Honor Roll fact sheet, which includes a list of all hospitals meeting the 2025 criteria, and methodology primer, visit the Cal Hospital Compare website.
For more than a decade, Cal Hospital Compare has been providing Californians with objective hospital performance ratings. Cal Hospital Compare is a nonprofit organization governed by a multistakeholder board that includes representatives of hospitals, purchasers, consumer groups, and health plans. It uses an open and collaborative process to aggregate public data and establish relevant measures and scoring. Cal Hospital Compare has three honor roll programs that recognize hospitals for their maternity care, patient safety, and work to address substance use disorder.
In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom created the role of California Surgeon General to serve as a leading spokesperson on matters of public health and to drive solutions to some of the most pressing public health challenges in California. The Office of the California Surgeon General has three key priorities: reproductive and maternal health as well as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). In September 2024, Dr. Ramos launched Strong Start & Beyond, a movement to reduce maternal mortality in California.