Hospital Ratings Avoiding C-Sections Delivering a baby by C-section when that is not medically necessary poses additional health risks to the mother and the baby. Many hospitals in the U.S. do more C-sections than they should. Our hospital Ratings can help people compare hospitals in their community based on C-section rates. Higher-rated hospitals do fewer C-sections. Lower-rated hospitals do more of them. We have Ratings for avoiding C-sections for over 1,500 hospitals in 22 states. The rates were calculated using hospital billing records from those states; some of them already make this data public. Our Ratings are the largest, single source of comparative C-section data for individual hospitals in the country. The Ratings are based on the C-section rates for mothers who anticipate a low-risk delivery – that is, women who haven’t had a C-section before, don’t deliver prematurely, and are pregnant with a single baby who is properly positioned. The Ratings include all moms, not just first- time moms. The data the Ratings are based on does not include information on factors that may increase the risk of a C-section, such as heart problems in the mother or fetus, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, obesity, or other chronic diseases. C-section rates among the hospitals we looked at ranged from a low of 4 percent to a high of 57 percent. The average C-section rate was 17.6 percent, which would earn hospitals our second lowest Rating. Read our article on unnecessary C-sections (go to www.consumerreports.org/ cro/csections0514.htm) and our technical report on how we rate hospitals (go to www.consumerreports.org/howweratehospitals). Hospitals in the chart below are listed alphabetically by Rating. ARIZONA Hospital Name City Rating Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center Globe 5 Maricopa Integrated Health System Phoenix 5 Maryvale Hospital Medical Center Phoenix 5 Page Hospital Page 5 Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center Show Low 5 Flagstaff Medical Center Flagstaff 4 Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center Safford 4 Northwest Medical Center Tucson 4 Payson Regional Medical Center Payson 4 Phoenix Baptist Hospital Phoenix 4 University of Arizona Medical Center - University Campus Tucson 4 West Valley Hospital Goodyear 4 Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center Sun City West 3 Banner Estrella Medical Center Phoenix 3 Banner Gateway Medical Center Gilbert 3 Casa Grande Regional Medical Center Casa Grande 3 Havasu Regional Medical Center Lake Havasu City 3 Kingman Regional Medical Center Kingman 3 Little Colorado Medical Center Winslow 3 Mountain Vista Medical Center Mesa 3 St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix 3 TMC Healthcare Tucson 3 HOSPITAL RATINGS AVOIDING C-SECTIONS © Consumer Reports May 2014 Hospital Ratings Avoiding C-Sections ARIZONA Hospital Name City Rating Verde Valley Medical Center Cottonwood 3 Arrowhead Hospital Glendale 2 Banner Baywood Medical Center Mesa 2 Banner Desert Medical Center Mesa 2 Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center Phoenix 2 Banner Ironwood Medical Center San Tan Valley 2 Banner Thunderbird Medical Center Glendale 2 Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital Nogales 2 Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital Tucson 2 Chandler Regional Medical Center Chandler 2 John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital Phoenix 2 Mercy Gilbert Medical Center Gilbert 2 Paradise Valley Hospital Phoenix 2 Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center Scottsdale 2 Scottsdale Healthcare-Osborn Medical Center Scottsdale 2 Sierra Vista Regional Health Center Sierra Vista 2 Valley View Medical Center Fort Mohave 2 Yavapai Regional Medical Center - East Prescott Valley 2 Yavapai Regional Medical Center Prescott 2 Yuma Regional Medical Center Yuma 2 Western Arizona Regional Medical Center Bullhead City 1 HOSPITAL RATINGS AVOIDING C-SECTIONS © Consumer Reports May 2014 Hospital Ratings Avoiding C-Sections Delivering a baby by C-section when that is not medically necessary poses additional health risks to the mother and the baby. Many hospitals in the U.S. do more C-sections than they should. Our hospital Ratings can help people compare hospitals in their community based on C-section rates. Higher-rated hospitals do fewer C-sections. Lower-rated hospitals do more of them. We have Ratings for avoiding C-sections for over 1,500 hospitals in 22 states. The rates were calculated using hospital billing records from those states; some of them already make this data public. Our Ratings are the largest, single source of comparative C-section data for individual hospitals in the country. The Ratings are based on the C-section rates for mothers who anticipate a low-risk delivery – that is, women who haven’t had a C-section before, don’t deliver prematurely, and are pregnant with a single baby who is properly positioned. The Ratings include all moms, not just first- time moms. The data the Ratings are based on does not include information on factors that may increase the risk of a C-section, such as heart problems in the mother or fetus, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, obesity, or other chronic diseases. C-section rates among the hospitals we looked at ranged from a low of 4 percent to a high of 57 percent. The average C-section rate was 17.6 percent, which would earn hospitals our second lowest Rating. Read our article on unnecessary C-sections (go to www.consumerreports.org/ cro/csections0514.htm) and our technical report on how we rate hospitals (go to www.consumerreports.org/howweratehospitals). Hospitals in the chart below are listed alphabetically by Rating. CALIFORNIA Hospital Name City Rating Emanuel Medical Center Turlock 5 Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center Sacramento 5 La Palma Intercommunity Hospital La Palma 5 Mayers Memorial Hospital District Fall River Mills 5 Redwood Memorial Hospital Fortuna 5 Sonoma Valley Hospital Sonoma 5 Sutter Davis Hospital Davis 5 Woodland Healthcare Woodland 5 Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield 4 Barton Memorial Hospital South Lake Tahoe 4 Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center Redwood City 4 Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center San Jose 4 Kern Medical Center Bakersfield 4 Regional Medical Center of San Jose San Jose 4 San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center San Francisco 4 San Joaquin Community Hospital Bakersfield 4 Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Grass Valley 4 St. Helena Hospital Napa Valley Saint Helena 4 St. Joseph Health St. Mary Apple Valley 4 Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, Chanate Campus Santa Rosa 4 Twin Cities Community Hospital Templeton 4 Western Medical Center Anaheim Anaheim 4 HOSPITAL RATINGS AVOIDING C-SECTIONS © Consumer Reports May 2014 Hospital Ratings Avoiding C-Sections CALIFORNIA Hospital Name City Rating Adventist Medical Center - Hanford Hanford 3 Alameda County Medical Center Oakland 3 Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Berkeley 3 Anaheim Regional Medical Center Anaheim 3 Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Colton 3 Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula Monterey 3 Community Regional Medical Center Fresno 3 Contra Costa Regional Medical Center Martinez 3 Corona Regional Medical Center Corona 3 Desert Regional Medical Center Palm Springs 3 Desert Valley Hospital Victorville 3 Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz 3 Downey Regional Medical Center Downey 3 Enloe Medical Center Chico 3 Fallbrook Hospital Fallbrook 3 Feather River Hospital Paradise 3 Fremont-Rideout Health Group Marysville 3 French Hospital Medical Center San Luis Obispo 3 John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Walnut Creek 3 Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center Antioch 3 Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center Fontana 3 Kaiser Permanente Manteca Medical Center Manteca 3 Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center Panorama City 3 Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center Roseville 3 Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center Santa Clara 3 Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center Vallejo 3 Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek Medical Center Walnut Creek 3 Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center Woodland Hills 3 Lompoc Valley Medical Center Lompoc 3 Los Alamitos Medical Center Los Alamitos 3 Mad River Community Hospital Arcata 3 Madera Community Hospital Madera 3 Marin General Hospital Greenbrae 3 Mee Memorial Hospital King City 3 Mendocino Coast District Hospital Fort Bragg 3 Mercy Hospital of Folsom Folsom 3 Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta Mount Shasta 3 HOSPITAL RATINGS AVOIDING C-SECTIONS © Consumer Reports May 2014 Hospital Ratings Avoiding C-Sections CALIFORNIA Hospital Name City Rating Methodist Hospital of Sacramento Sacramento 3 Methodist Hospital of Southern California Arcadia 3 Natividad Medical Center Salinas 3 NorthBay Medical Center Fairfield 3 Northern Inyo Hospital Bishop 3 O'Connor Hospital San Jose 3 Pacific Hospital of Long Beach Long Beach 3 Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma 3 Redlands Community Hospital Redlands 3 Saint Louise Regional Hospital Gilroy 3 Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System Salinas 3 Southwest Healthcare System Murrieta 3 St. Bernardine Medical Center San Bernardino 3 St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake Clearlake 3 St. Joseph Hospital Eureka 3 St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton 3 St. Luke's Hospital San Francisco 3 St. Rose Hospital Hayward 3 Sutter Coast Hospital Crescent City 3 Sutter Delta Medical Center Antioch 3 Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center of Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 3 Sutter Roseville Medical Center Roseville 3 Sutter Solano Medical Center Vallejo 3 Tahoe Forest Hospital District Truckee 3 Tulare Regional Medical Center Tulare 3 UCSF Medical Center San Francisco 3 University of California, Davis Medical Center Sacramento