St. Joseph’s Medical Center’s Heart Surgery Program Earns Distinguished Three-Star Rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)

Stockton, CA - February 14, 2022 - Dignity Health - St. Joseph’s Medical Center has earned distinguished three-star ratings from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in both Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) and Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR) surgeries. The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places St. Joseph's among the elite for CABG and AVR procedures in the United States and Canada. 

“We are honored to receive this national recognition and I am deeply grateful to our team who has continuously demonstrated clinical excellence during these challenging times,” said Don Wiley, President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Medical Center. “This distinction is a true reflection of our commitment to bringing the best in heart care to Stockton and San Joaquin County.”

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 surgery while approximately 18% receive the three-star rating for CABG surgery. The latest analysis of data for these results covers a 3-year period, from July 2018 to June 2021. 

“St. Joseph’s Medical Center has been providing high quality cardiac surgical care to our community for more than 45 years. Our patients can have peace of mind knowing they are receiving care at one of the highest-rated hospitals in the country,” said Joann Marks, Director of Cardiac Services at St. Joseph’s.

“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.

To learn more about cardiac services at St. Joseph's Medical Center, please visit dignityhealth.org/stockton/heart.