UC's impact — public investment at work

Improving your health

UC’s five academic medical centers provide high-quality patient care and train the next generation of health care professionals. UC also is expanding access to care through innovative solutions such as telemedicine.

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Providing quality patient care

From the nicotine patch to advances in imaging technology, UC’s medical discoveries have changed modern medical care for the better. See video of an amazing procedure at UCLA that uses a tiny wire mesh disc, threaded through an artery, to replace open heart surgery for many children born with a hole in their heart.

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“Telecommunications and information technology have the power to address the health care needs of the underserved population. Our goal is to reduce health disparities by bringing the clinical care expertise and educational resources of the University of California directly to communities throughout the state.”

-- Dr. Thomas Nesbitt, executive associate dean, UC Davis School of Medicine

Training health professionals

California’s nursing shortage is serious and growing. UC is expanding its nursing programs to help address the issue, while it is also developing new medical education programs to meet critical health needs.

Increasing access through telemedicine

UC is expanding access to high-level medical care for rural Californians. In November, the Federal Communications Commission awarded UC, in partnership with a coalition of government agencies, health care providers and others, $22 million to develop a new California Telehealth Network – using communications technology to deliver health care services to rural areas. The UC Office of the President and telemedicine pioneer UC Davis will manage the project.

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Find out more about what UC is doing to improve health services.

UC San Francisco and UCLA children’s hospitals ranked among nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report
UC Davis, UC Irvine and UC San Diego hospitals also rank among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report
National group ranks UC San Francisco in top 10 academic medical centers
UC San Diego Regional Burn Center treats wildfire patients
UCSF Fresno first in U.S. to implement new fetal monitor
UC Davis to launch nursing school
UC Regents approve establishment of new medical school at UC Riverside
UC Merced establishes planning office to finalize med school proposal
UC Irvine telemedicine center to break ground

Latest budget news

Did you know?

UC is the fifth-largest health care delivery system in California, with 34,000 health care professionals on staff who provide $4 billion worth of patient care annually.
UC receives 3.6 million outpatient visits, 261,000 emergency room visits and 138,000 inpatient admissions annually, including a high portion of the state’s uninsured and underinsured.
UC, with five medical schools and two more under consideration, has the largest health sciences training program in the nation (13,000 students per year).
UC medical education programs enroll about half of California’s medical students.
Statewide, UC provides treatment for 22% of all extensive burn cases and care for 9% of all trauma cases, as well as 38% of all transplant procedures.