Sequoia Hospital Achieves 2026 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award

Sequoia Hospital among the top 10% of U.S. hospitals for safe, high-quality care

REDWOOD CITY, California (March 10, 2026) – Sequoia Hospital announced today that it has achieved the 2026 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM from Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use to find a doctor or hospital. This award reflects Sequoia Hospital’s commitment to safe, patient-centered care and puts the organization in the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.

“I am thrilled to announce the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award,” said Brenda Kuhn, Interim CNO & COO at Sequoia Hospital. “Healthgrades is an organization that evaluates hospitals around 13 metrics of preventable patient harm – identifying hospitals with the lowest rates of complications, infections and injuries. This achievement is a direct result of our staff’s diligence with a focus on "every patient, every time.”

Sequoia Hospital’s achievement is based solely on what matters most: patient outcomes. To determine the national leaders in patient safety, Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted complication and mortality rates from approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide across 13 patient safety indicators (PSIs), with each PSI representing a serious, preventable complication.

Healthgrades’ annual analysis revealed significant performance gaps between the nation’s highest-and lowest-achieving facilities, making it increasingly important for consumers to seek care at a hospital with top safety ratings. During the 2022-2024 study period, 167,228 preventable safety events occurred among Medicare patients at U.S. hospitals, with four PSIs accounting for nearly 78% of all incidents. Patients treated at Sequoia Hospital and other award-winning facilities had a profoundly lower risk of experiencing these leading complications:

• In-hospital fall resulting in fracture (52.4% less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure in or around the chest (57.5% less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (67.8% less likely)
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (71.9% less likely)

"The data behind this year’s Patient Safety Excellence Award highlights how measurable improvements in safety can prevent thousands of complications,” said Dr. Alana Biggers, MPH, medical advisor at Healthgrades. “By prioritizing evidence-based safety practices, Sequoia Hospital is achieving better clinical outcomes and cultivating a culture where patients come first.”

Where you’re treated matters, which is why Healthgrades is committed to providing the most scientifically accurate information about doctors and hospitals–with data insights not available anywhere else. For additional guidance on finding safe, high-quality care in 2026, visit healthgrades.com.

*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award Methodology, which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2025.0.1) to MedPAR data from approximately 4,500 hospitals for years 2022 through 2024 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

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About Dignity Health California

Dignity Health California is a nonprofit network of over 9000 physicians, more than 35,000 employees, 29 acute care hospitals, and 200-plus care-centers, including community hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Dignity Health California provides award-winning care to communities in five primary markets across the state: North State, Sacramento, Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California.

Dignity Health is a member of CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit Catholic healthcare organizations, dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. Learn more at DignityHealth.org and CommonSpirit.org.

About Healthgrades

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering meaningful connections between patients, doctors, and hospitals. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content.

For over 20 years, our health system, group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have helped our partners reach and engage consumers on their way to the doctor.

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