CMS certification 050515
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego
4647 Zion Ave, San Diego, CA 92120
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. 77% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 11 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 3 and worse on none.
Every figure on this page is published by CMS; we arrange and explain it, and score nothing ourselves.
What patients said
Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 1,483 completed surveys, 26% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
Emergency department
How long emergency patients spent here and how some time-critical care went, from CMS's timely and effective care measures, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025. These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
| Measure | This hospital | CA | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 324 patients | 85% | 70% | 65% |
How Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego compares with nearby hospitals
The closest hospitals of the same kind that CMS rates or surveys - the same city first, then the same county and ZIP area. Every figure is CMS's: the overall star rating, the share of patients who would definitely recommend the hospital, the median time emergency patients spent before leaving, and how many death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS found better or worse than the national rate.
| Hospital | CMS stars | Would recommend | ER median time | Vs the nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San DiegoThis hospital | 4/5 | 77% | — | 3 better |
| Sharp Memorial HospitalSame city | 4/5 | 81% | 3 h 17 min | 4 better 2 worse |
| NMC San DiegoSame city | Not rated | 77% | 2 h 46 min | — |
| Scripps Mercy HospitalSame city | 4/5 | 69% | 3 h 14 min | 4 better 3 worse |
| Uc San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Med CtrSame city | 5/5 | 75% | 4 h 19 min | 10 better 2 worse |
| VA San Diego Healthcare SystemSame city | 5/5 | 74% | — | 3 better 2 worse |
Hospitals differ in size and in how sick their patients are. CMS adjusts its outcome measures for that, but a star or a percentage is a starting point for questions, not a verdict. All hospitals in San Diego.
Deaths
How many patients died within 30 days of admission, adjusted by CMS for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| All patients, hospital-wide 5,878 cases | Too few cases | 3.8% | 3.9% |
| Heart failure 28 cases | Too few cases | 13.3% | 11.1% |
| Stroke 332 cases | Too few cases | 12.3% | 11.9% |
4 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Complications
How often patients had serious complications, most of them after surgery, adjusted for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2024.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious complications, combined measure | No different | 1.01 likely 0.61 – 1.42 | 1 |
| After hip or knee replacement 279 cases | Too few cases | 3.8% | 4.1% |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 1,270 cases | No different | 0.61 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.51 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 1,732 cases | No different | 0.19 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.42 per 1,000 | 0.21 per 1,000 |
| Broken bones from falls in the hospital 1,721 cases | No different | 0.25 per 1,000 likely 0.04 per 1,000 – 0.46 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
| Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 421 cases | No different | 2.35 per 1,000 likely 0.72 per 1,000 – 3.98 per 1,000 | 2.34 per 1,000 |
| Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 186 cases | No different | 1.61 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 3.31 per 1,000 | 1.67 per 1,000 |
| Breathing failure after surgery 181 cases | No different | 9.39 per 1,000 likely 0.49 per 1,000 – 18.28 per 1,000 | 9.42 per 1,000 |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 434 cases | No different | 3.73 per 1,000 likely 1.33 per 1,000 – 6.12 per 1,000 | 3.52 per 1,000 |
| Sepsis after surgery 179 cases | No different | 5.41 per 1,000 likely 1.35 per 1,000 – 9.47 per 1,000 | 5.27 per 1,000 |
| Surgical wound splitting open 115 cases | No different | 1.69 per 1,000 likely 0.19 per 1,000 – 3.19 per 1,000 | 1.77 per 1,000 |
| Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 400 cases | No different | 1.5 per 1,000 likely 0.45 per 1,000 – 2.54 per 1,000 | 1.06 per 1,000 |
1 more measure had too few cases here to report.
Infections caught in the hospital
Standardized infection ratio: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one. Lower is better. Data from Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) | Better | 0.2 likely 0.03 – 0.68 | 1 |
| Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) | No different | 0.76 likely 0.33 – 1.5 | 1 |
| Surgical site infections after colon surgery | No different | 0.63 likely 0.2 – 1.52 | 1 |
| MRSA bloodstream infections | Better | 0.16 likely 0.01 – 0.81 | 1 |
| C. diff intestinal infections | Better | 0.63 likely 0.46 – 0.84 | 1 |
1 more measure had too few cases here to report.
Readmissions and return visits
How often patients had to come back to a hospital after going home. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2023 – Jun 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readmitted after a heart attack 158 cases | Too few cases | 13% | 14.4% |
| Readmitted after heart failure 1,165 cases | Too few cases | 20.6% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 960 cases | Too few cases | 17.5% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 285 cases | Too few cases | 20% | 20% |
| Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 300 cases | Too few cases | 5% | 5.8% |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 30 cases | Too few cases | 33.1 days per 100 | — |
8 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Clinicians registered at this address
1,175 clinicians give this hospital's street address as their practice location in NPPES, the federal provider registry, plus 23 residents and trainees. The same address can take in offices and clinics in the building, and a listing does not prove admitting privileges or current employment.
| Specialty | Clinicians |
|---|---|
| Family Medicine | 116 |
| Internal Medicine | 97 |
| Pharmacist | 88 |
| Emergency Medicine | 83 |
| Physician Assistant | 68 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 56 |
| Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered | 48 |
| Obstetrics & Gynecology | 40 |
| Optometrist | 33 |
| Anesthesiology | 30 |
| Respiratory Therapist, Registered | 25 |
| Pediatrics | 24 |
First 12 alphabetically
Money from drug and device companies
Drug and device makers have to report what they pay teaching hospitals to CMS's Open Payments program. At many teaching hospitals most of it is research funding, or royalties for inventions the hospital licensed to a company. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.
- 2019 $5,540
- 2020 $4,758
- 2021 $3,149
- 2022 $38
- 2023 $23,930
- 2024 $748,849
- 2025 $85,824
What the 2025 general payments were for
| Type of payment | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Debt forgiveness | $32,546 | 14 |
Largest paying companies, 2025
| Company | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation | $42,314 | 5 |
| Biotronik INC. | $29,995 | 13 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | $10,964 | 2 |
| Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | $2,551 | 1 |
Largest research studies funded here, 2025
| Study | Amount |
|---|---|
| A Multi-center, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel Group, Phase III Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of LNP023 in Primar… Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation | $25,844 |
| A randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled, multicenter phase 3 trial to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of ianalu… Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation | $16,469 |
| DS8201-A-U305 Daiichi Sankyo Inc. · NCT04622319 | $10,964 |
Amounts are as the paying companies reported them to CMS; Open Payments data retrieved 13 Sep 2026. Full record on CMS Open Payments.
How to read this page
- Everything here is published by CMS on Care Compare. We arrange it and explain it; the star ratings and the better / worse verdicts are CMS's, not ours.
- “No different” is the most common result on most measures at most hospitals. CMS only calls a result better or worse when the difference from the national rate is statistically clear.
- Death, complication and readmission rates are adjusted by CMS for how sick patients were, so hospitals that treat sicker patients can be compared fairly.
- Infection results are ratios: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one, below 1.0 is fewer.
- These are hospital-wide results. They do not rate an individual doctor, nurse or department, and they are not medical advice.
CMS Care Compare data retrieved 4 Oct 2026, refreshed weekly. Where this data comes from and how we handle it · Report an error
Common questions about Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego
Is Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego a good hospital?
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Of the 11 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 3 and worse on none. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego?
77% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 1,483 completed HCAHPS surveys.
Does Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego have an emergency room?
Yes. CMS lists emergency services at Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego.
Does Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego receive money from drug and device companies?
Drug and device makers reported $85,824 in payments to Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego for 2025, most of it research funding, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.