St. Bernardine Receives 3-Star Rating for AVR+CABG Surgery

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF., June 26, 2025 – Dignity Health Medical Group, Cardiothoracic Surgery has earned a distinguished three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in aortic valve replacement (AVR) combined with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places St. Bernardine Medical Center among the elite for AVR+CABG surgery in the United States and Canada.

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant.

Historically, approximately 4%–7% of participants receive the three-star rating for AVR+CABG surgery. The latest analysis of data for AVR+CABG surgery covers a 3-year period, from January 2022 to December 2024, and includes 745 participants.

“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care.”

The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database includes three components: the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), the General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD), and the mechanical circulatory support database (Intermacs). The STS ACSD houses approximately 6.9 million surgical records and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of hospitals that perform heart surgery in the US. STS public reporting online enables STS ACSD participants to voluntarily report to each other and the public their heart surgery scores and star ratings.

About STS

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) is a not-for-profit organization that represents more than 7,300 surgeons, researchers, and allied health care professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.

About Dignity Health – St. Bernardine Medical Center

Founded as a faith-based hospital in 1931 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Dignity Health – St. Bernardine Medical Center is a 342-bed, acute care, nonprofit hospital located in San Bernardino, California. The hospital offers a full complement of services, including the Inland Empire Heart and Vascular Institute, an award-winning orthopedics program, surgical w eight loss, and is an official Neurovascular Stroke Center. The hospital shares a legacy of humankindness with Dignity Health, one of the nation’s five largest health care systems. Visit dignityhealth.org/stbernardine for more information.