Six hospitals in San Diego County make honor roll for substance use treatment

by Paul Sisson

Six San Diego County hospitals are among 33 statewide named the highest achieving in substance use disorder treatment by Cal Hospital Compare, a nonprofit organization that grades medical center performance in more than 60 categories.

The quality-rating site announced its list of honor roll programs this week, expanding its previous focus on the treatment of opioid use to all substances. To make the “highest level of performance” list, facilities had to deliver what the organization considers to be the highest level of care for two consecutive years.

According to the self-assessment guide that participating hospitals must complete, the highest level of substance use treatment embeds key substance use practices into day-to-day operations, including medication-assisted treatment, which uses drugs such as buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone in combination with behavioral therapy to treat addiction

Hospitals must also testify that they embed physician and medical staff training, family outreach, follow-up after discharge, and “harm-reduction” strategies into the substance use disorder care they provide in order to make the list.

In San Diego County, facilities receiving honor roll recognition are: Scripps hospitals in La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Encinitas and San Diego; Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa and Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside.

Overall, 133 hospitals statewide participated in the substance use disorder program.

The program ranks programs that it considers to be top performing in its “superior performance” category, one where facilities must score in the 75th percentile or higher in the grading process. While achieving this level for two years running puts hospitals on the honor roll, those making the mark in just 2025 are also called out.

Seventeen facilities across California were deemed to have superior substance use treatment performance in 2025, including Palomar Health’s hospitals in Escondido and Poway, Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista, Sharp Coronado Hospital and Sharp Memorial Hospital in Serra Mesa.