For the second year running, Los Angeles General Medical Center has clinched the "Superior Performance" title in the Opioid Care Honor Roll, a nod to the hospital's frontline fight in the opioid epidemic, reports said Thursday. The accolade, doled out by Cal Hospital Compare (CHC), spotlights LA General's all-hands-on-deck approach to opioid management, spanning patient care, overdose prevention, and ongoing efforts to curb opioid-related deaths.
Under the watchful eyes of CEO Jorge Orozco and a brigade of dedicated healthcare professionals, the medical center has been at the vanguard, employing strategies deemed advanced even by California's high standards, and despite the fact that 157 hospitals were in the running only a select few including LA General were able to hit that high-water mark for opioid stewardship and patient safety. "We are honored to receive this recognition from Cal. It reflects the dedication and hard work of our entire team in providing safe, effective, and compassionate care to our patients," Orozco said in a statement obtained by Cal Hospital Compare.
The Opioid Care Honor Roll, a CHC initiative, ranks hospitals using a robust framework that scrutinizes their opioid administration, patient management tactics pertaining to Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), and overarching overdose prevention strategies—culminating in an annual assessment that sorts facilities into four classes of distinction.
Woven into the fabric of LA General's opioid crisis response, are cutting-edge practices that Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brad Spellberg regards as pillars of clinical excellence and continuous improvement; he said, "This accolade is a testament to our commitment to clinical excellence and continuous improvement," according to a Cal Hospital Compare interview. As parts of a Level One Trauma Center and teaching hospital, these efforts don't just check boxes for CHC—they save actual lives, at a time when Opioid Use Disorder continues to ravage communities across the nation.
Los Angeles General Medical Center (LA General), is a behemoth in healthcare provision with over 600 beds and runs as a Level One Trauma Center within the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) framework. It boasts of specialized units that cater to the wider Southern California area, including but not limited to a Burn Center, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and specialized emergency rooms for psychiatric and pediatric patients, not to mention outpatient services for victims of violence and abuse.
