Cal Hospital Compare (CHC) today announced its 2026 statewide honor roll for hospitals demonstrating leadership in substance use disorder (SUD) services, with Scripps Health's hospitals earning more spots in the list's top category than any other health care system in San Diego County.

Scripps' five acute-care hospital campuses - Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, Scripps Green Hospital, Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego and Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista - were honored in the list's top tier of sustained superior performance. This distinction is reserved for hospitals that have achieved a superior ranking for at least two consecutive years.

"This recognition reaffirms that our ongoing efforts to address SUDs are succeeding in important ways," said Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder. "It's rewarding that an independent review verifies that our teams continue to make a positive difference for patients by providing safety guidance and access to care."

CHC launched this program in 2019 as the Opioid Care Honor Roll, with a focus on hospitals that promote safe opioid use, identify patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and facilitate access to addiction treatment. It expanded the program in 2025 to address the broader issue of SUD, with special attention on managing patients with OUD and alcohol use disorder. The program is now called the Healthcare Organizations Leading SUD Care Honor Roll.

This year's CHC honor roll recognizes Scripps' achievements in promoting safe opioid use practices, harm reduction services, short-term care, and navigation to ongoing SUD care for its hospital patients. Year over year, Scripps continues to make meaningful progress in reducing the number of high-dose opioids prescribed at discharge and limiting opioid prescriptions to seven days or less. Scripps also continues to promote use of alternative pain management options, including nonopioid medications, aromatherapy and music therapy. Together, these efforts reflect Scripps' ongoing commitment to safer pain management, opioid stewardship and connecting patients with appropriate support and resources.

In 2026, Scripps expanded its Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP) to inpatient units, making these resources available to hospitalized patients in addition to those treated in the emergency department. Previously, the NDP was offered only to ED patients.

SUD nurses at Scripps help facilitate direct placement of detox patients into Scripps-funded beds at both McAlister Institute and Father Joe's Villages. These beds are available to patients who are uninsured or covered by Medi-Cal or Medicare. Access to Scripps-funded beds is limited to Scripps patients and must be facilitated by a SUD nurse. Scripps also maintains a preferred provider agreement with the Betty Ford Center as part of the Scripps Health network.

Scripps also offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT) as needed in its EDs. Physicians can administer medications such as buprenorphine to serve as a bridge for patients with opioid use disorder until they can transition to ongoing care in the community. SUD nurses can help facilitate this transition before discharge, including scheduling follow-up appointments and connecting patients with appropriate community-based treatment and support services.

CHC invited all California acute-care hospitals to submit self-assessments to be considered for this year's honor roll. A total of 118 hospitals voluntarily submitted data highlighting their progress in implementing evidence-based practices to address SUD. Self-assessments covered questions about four domains of care: safe and effective opioid use; medications for addiction treatment; harm reduction strategies; and applying best practices that influence the success of the first three domains.

For the 2026 SUD care honor roll, CHC named 40 hospitals to the sustained superior performance tier; 22 to the superior performance category; and 20 to the excellent progress tier. CHC cited the remaining hospitals for performance improvement and program participation.

Formerly known as the California Hospital Assessment Task Force, CHC is a nonprofit organization that provides Californians with no-cost, objective hospital performance ratings and publishes annual statewide hospital honor rolls for patient safety, maternity care and SUD care.