Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego
- CMS overall rating
- 4 out of 5 stars
- Patient survey rating
- 4 out of 5 stars
- Beds
- 659
- Average time in the ER
- Not reported
- Primary specialties
- 37
CMS data as of
Overview
Summary
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego is located in San Diego, California. Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego is an acute care hospital and is a private non-profit. This facility has 659 beds and 44 ICU beds. Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego offers emergency care services. When asked survey questions about their care in Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego, patients gave an overall rating of 90 out of 100. Furthermore, patients would rate this hospital 90 out of 100 in terms of recommending others receive care at this facility. This facility has an overall Medicare Spending Per Beneficiary score of 0.87. This is an indicator which shows whether Medicare spends more, less, or about the same for care at this specific hospital compared to all hospitals nationally. Relative to other hospitals nationally, the cost is lower at Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego. At this facility, they have 519 providers across 37 primary specialties.
| Measure | Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego | Sharp Memorial Hospital | Scripps Mercy Hospital | UCSan Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Medical Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Able to receive lab results electronically | Not available | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Able to track patient records electronically | Not available | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offers emergency services | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
How the overall rating breaks down
CMS groups quality measures into categories and reports whether each hospital is above, the same as, or below the national average in each.
| Measure | Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego | Sharp Memorial Hospital | Scripps Mercy Hospital | UCSan Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Medical Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Efficient use of medical imaging | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Effectiveness of Care | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mortality | Same as national average | Above national average | Above national average | Above national average |
| Patient Experience | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Readmission | Same as national average | Below national average | Below national average | Below national average |
| Safety of Care | Above national average | Above national average | Above national average | Above national average |
| Timeliness of Care | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
Nearby hospitals of the same type are included for context.
Charts below include 3 nearby hospitals of the same type for context. Compare these 4 hospitals side by side.
Trends since 2020
How Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has changed on key measures in each annual CMS release, with the national value for reference.
- Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego
- National
Overall star rating
Stars (1–5) · Higher is better
No data reported for 2022. View data as a table
Overall star rating, 2020–2026 CMS release year Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego 2020 4 2021 4 2022 — 2023 3 2024 5 2025 4 2026 4 Patients' overall rating
Score (0–100) · Higher is better
Each point is a CMS annual release. View data as a table
Patients' overall rating, 2020–2026 CMS release year Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego National 2020 92 88.5 2021 91 87.9 2022 90 87.5 2023 90 86.8 2024 89 87.6 2025 91 88 2026 90 87.9 Hospital-wide readmission rate
Percent · Lower is better
Rate of unplanned readmission within 30 days, all conditions. From 2025 CMS reports the Hybrid Hospital-Wide Readmission measure (claims plus EHR data), which replaced the claims-only measure; values are close but not strictly comparable across the change. CMS suppressed it for 2026.
No data reported for 2026. View data as a table
Hospital-wide readmission rate, 2020–2026 CMS release year Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego National 2020 14.6% 15.6% 2021 15.4% 15.5% 2022 14.8% 15% 2023 13.5% 14.6% 2024 14% 14.6% 2025 13.7% 15% 2026 — — Heart failure death rate
Percent · Lower is better
Each point is a CMS annual release. View data as a table
Heart failure death rate, 2020–2026 CMS release year Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego National 2020 — 11.3% 2021 — 11.2% 2022 — 11.3% 2023 — 11.8% 2024 13.2% 11.9% 2025 12.9% 11.6% 2026 13.3% 11.1% Time in emergency department
Minutes · Lower is better
Appropriate sepsis care
Percent · Higher is better
Each point is a CMS annual release. View data as a table
Appropriate sepsis care, 2020–2026 CMS release year Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego National 2020 67% 60% 2021 76% 57% 2022 75% 57% 2023 82% 59% 2024 78% 62% 2025 81% 64% 2026 85% 65%
Outcomes
What happened to patients after their stay: deaths, readmissions and infections picked up in the hospital.
Death rates
The share of patients who died within 30 days of a hospital stay for this condition, adjusted for how sick they were. Lower is better.
About this measure
Patients admitted for treatment sometimes develop serious complications or die. Many of these events can be prevented when hospitals follow best practices. CMS risk-adjusts death rates so hospitals that treat sicker patients are compared fairly.
Unplanned readmissions
The share of patients who came back to a hospital unexpectedly within 30 days of going home. Lower is better.
About this measure
The readmission measures estimate the rate of unplanned readmission to an acute care hospital in the 30 days after discharge. Returning to the hospital disrupts patients’ lives, raises the risk of harmful events like infections, and costs more. Hospitals that give high quality care can keep patients from returning.
Infections caught in the hospital
Infections compared with the number expected for a hospital like this one. 1.0 is as expected; below 1.0 is better.
About this measure
Infections are reported using a standardized infection ratio. The SIR compares the actual number of infections at a hospital to a national benchmark based on data reported to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
Timely care and patient experience
Emergency department waits, whether recommended treatments were given, and how patients rated their stay.
Time spent in the emergency department
How long patients typically spent in the emergency department before leaving. Shorter is better.
About this measure
Timely emergency care is essential for good outcomes. Delays can reduce the quality of care and increase risk and discomfort for patients with serious illnesses or injuries. Waiting times vary with the number of patients seen, staffing, efficiency, admitting procedures and the availability of inpatient beds.
Recommended care
How often the hospital gave care that research shows gets the best results. Higher is better.
About this measure
Sepsis is a complication that occurs when the body has an extreme response to an infection. It damages organs and can be life-threatening. Sepsis can turn into septic shock, which has a higher risk of death. Identifying sepsis early and starting appropriate care quickly increases the chance of survival.
The septic shock measures focus on adults with severe sepsis or septic shock and check whether medically required interventions were given within three hours (first steps) and six hours (remaining steps).
Patient experience
How recently discharged patients rated their stay on the national HCAHPS survey, as a 0–100 score. Higher is better.
About this measure
Patients review their care using the HCAHPS survey, which covers overall rating, willingness to recommend, cleanliness, quietness, nurse and doctor communication, communication about medicines and more. CMS converts each set of responses to a number between 0 and 100 and averages them into a linear mean score that captures the full distribution of answers.
Costs and value
What care costs Medicare and patients, how it relates to outcomes, and the hospital’s own costs and staffing.
Payments for an episode of care
Average total paid, by Medicare and the patient, for care from admission through the following 30 days (90 for hip/knee replacement).
About this measure
The payment measures add up all payments for care starting the day the patient enters the hospital: payments to the hospital, doctor's office, skilled nursing facility and hospice, plus patient copayments. Risk adjustment accounts for patient age, medical history and other conditions, and removes differences unrelated to care such as geographic pricing.
Value of care
Death rate and payment for the same condition, side by side. Hospitals toward the lower left have both lower death rates and lower payments.
About this measure
Looking at payment together with quality-of-care measures such as death rates lets you compare the value of care between hospitals. Lower and to the left (low death rate, low payment) is the best combination.
Costs versus charges
How a hospital’s actual costs compare with what it lists as charges. Closer to 1 means list prices are closer to costs.
About this measure
Hospitals list charges that are usually much higher than what care costs them. The cost-to-charge ratio shows how far apart the two are. Values are calculated from the hospital’s annual Medicare cost report.
Employees on payroll
Estimated full-time-equivalent staff, from the hospital’s Medicare cost report.
Doctors and specialties
Which kinds of doctors are affiliated with the hospital, and which specialties are unusually common there.
Doctors by specialty
Doctors affiliated with this hospital, grouped by primary specialty.
About this measure
The RCA calculation compares a specialty’s share of all doctors at a given hospital with that specialty’s share across all hospitals.
Key facts about Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego
The latest CMS numbers for Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego, how they compare with the national value, and how they have changed since the earliest release we track. Data as of Sep 30, 2026.
| Measure | Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego | National | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall star rating (higher is better) | 4 stars in 2026 | — | Unchanged since 2020 |
| Patient survey star rating (higher is better) | 4 stars in 2026Higher than national (3.3 stars) | 3.3 stars | Unchanged since 2020 |
| Patients would recommend (higher is better)HCAHPS linear mean score (0–100) | 90/100 in 2026Higher than national (87/100) | 87/100 | Down from 92/100 in 2020 |
| Heart failure death rate (lower is better) | 13.3% in 2026Higher than national (11.1%) | 11.1% | Up from 13.2% in 2024 |
| Pneumonia death rate (lower is better) | 13.9% in 2021Lower than national (15.3%) | 15.3% | Up from 13.8% in 2020 |
| Stroke death rate (lower is better) | 12.3% in 2026Higher than national (11.9%) | 11.9% | — |
| Hospital-wide readmission rate (lower is better) | 13.7% in 2025Lower than national (15%) | 15% | — |
| Appropriate sepsis care (higher is better) | 85% in 2026Higher than national (65%) | 65% | Up from 67% in 2020 |
| Central line bloodstream infections (lower is better)Standardized infection ratio: 1.00 means as many infections as predicted | 0.20 in 2026Lower than national (1.00) | 1.00 | Up from 0.09 in 2020 |
| C. diff infections (lower is better)Standardized infection ratio: 1.00 means as many infections as predicted | 0.63 in 2026Lower than national (1.00) | 1.00 | Down from 0.72 in 2020 |
| Medicare spending per patient (lower is better)Spending per episode relative to the national median: 1.00 means the same | 0.87 in 2026Lower than national (1.00) | 1.00 | Up from 0.78 in 2020 |
Common questions
Where is Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego located?
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego is at 4647 Zion Ave, San Diego, CA 92120 in San Diego County. Its main phone number is (619) 528-5000.
What type of hospital is Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego?
CMS lists Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego as an acute care hospital. Ownership is listed as voluntary non-profit - private.
What is Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego's CMS star rating?
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The rating combines measures of mortality, safety, readmissions, patient experience and timely care.
How do patients rate Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego?
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has a patient survey summary rating of 4 stars out of 5, based on the national HCAHPS survey of recently discharged patients. Its score for patients who would recommend the hospital is 90/100, compared with 87/100 nationally.
Does Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego have an emergency room?
Yes. Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego offers emergency services. In an emergency, call 911.
How many beds does Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego have?
Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego has 659 beds, according to CMS's Provider of Services file. Doctors in 37 specialties are affiliated with the hospital.
What hospitals are near Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Diego?
The closest hospitals of the same type are Sharp Memorial Hospital (3.5 miles, San Diego), Scripps Mercy Hospital (4.7 miles, San Diego), UCSan Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Medical Center (4.8 miles, San Diego), Grossmont Hospital (5.2 miles, La Mesa) and Paradise Valley Hospital (7.4 miles, National City).