Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get information about hospitals in CA

Begin your search for a hospital with a comparison of size and rank data for hospitals in your area.

I recommend: Get information from the Joint Commission, an independent, non-profit organization that accredits hospitals and other health care organizations. MedlinePlus, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides a database of hospitals. Find local veterans hospitals from the website of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Find trauma care at a California hospital

A trauma center provides emergency care for accidents and other traumas 24 hours per day. Trauma centers are ranked either level one or level two based on their facilities and equipment.

I recommend: UCLA Medical Center is a CA medical center that is ranked among the top five in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and has a level one trauma center. Other high ranking hospitals are the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center. Riverside Community Hospital and the Desert Regional Medical Center are level two trauma centers that are accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers, a non-profit society focused on cardiac health.

Find a specialty California health clinic or CA medical center

Some hospitals are dedicated to a specific group or function, such as pediatric and rehabilitation hospitals. A pediatric hospital provides care for babies and children and particularly difficult cases. Rehabilitation hospitals help a patient recover physical, mental and sensory skills lost because of a disease or injury.

I recommend: California is home to several high-ranking specialty care facilities. Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital are award-winning hospitals in the treatment of complex diseases in children. Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center has more than 20 Centers of Excellence in rehabilitation and research, including stroke, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's research and gerontology programs.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When you enter a California health care facility, make sure your medical team is aware of your medical history, especially what medicines you take. Find out if you should take your medicine while in the hospital. Keep a list of medicines you take. When given medicine, make sure it's part of your regimen. If it isn't, find out why it's being administered.