SAN DIEGO – As 2023 draws to a close, Scripps Health has revealed its top news stories from the past year.

Whether it was embarking on new research to advance patient care, upgrading its hospital facilities to meet rising demand, or calling attention to important issues affecting health care delivery, Scripps made headlines in meaningful ways. Here are the top news stories from Scripps in 2023.

Spotlight on Industry Challenges

Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder wrote multiple guest commentaries to bring attention to problems affecting hospitals and patients. One focused on the rising number of avoidable bed days, which are days when a hospitalized patient is medically stable enough to be discharged to a lower level of care, but can’t leave – sometimes for months or years – because there is no safe, appropriate place for them to go. That means there are not enough beds for other patients needing hospital admission. Van Gorder also wrote about the shortage of inpatient behavioral health beds in San Diego County, which currently has approximately half of the psychiatric beds it needs. As a result, acute-care hospitals (along with jails and prisons) have become de facto behavioral health facilities that are not equipped to provide the level of care needed for these patients. He called for greater collaboration and increased Medi-Cal reimbursement to improve access to appropriate care.

Scripps CEO Initiates Hospital Violence Task Force
Under the leadership of Van Gorder, San Diego health systems joined law enforcement officials and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office to form a new task force aimed at addressing the growing problem of violence in hospitals. As a former police officer, Van Gorder was uniquely positioned to initiate this novel community effort. The group, which meets quarterly, is focused on reducing such incidents and increasing communication among hospitals experiencing violent incidents and with the public law enforcement agencies charged with responding to them.

National Recognition as Top Health System
Scripps Health was named one of the top five medium-sized health systems in the nation by PINC AI and was the only health care provider in California to be included among a broader list covering the top 15 large, medium and small systems across the United States. Scripps was ranked No. 1 in the medium health system category, tying with HCA Mountain Division for the top spot. Hospitals included in the top 15 list achieved better patient outcomes, fewer complications and higher patient experience ratings, compared to the more than 2,600 other hospitals evaluated that did not make the list.

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