World Report

Orange County’s only university hospital, the UCI Medical Center in Orange, has been selected as a 2008 Top Hospital by the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, university officials announced Tuesday. The survey, which reviews quality and safety, including performance during high-risk procedures, intensive-care-unit staffing and automation of records and orders, reviewed more than 1,200 hospitals nationwide. UCI Medical Center received high marks in several areas, including its ability to prevent medical errors through computer-based information, having staff members properly trained in critical care medicine and hospital employees’ ability to prevent minor and major complications through fundamental safety checks and practices.

Each year, colleges and universities around the nation anticipate national and regional rankings by college guidebook publications. Vanguard University has once again been ranked highly by three national publications. Vanguard has been included in the U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges as one of the best comprehensive colleges in the West, as well as being on the list of top colleges for two of The Princeton Review publications. U.S. News and World Report named Vanguard in the top 10 of the best comprehensive colleges in the West when its America's Best Colleges 2007 was published.

Hoag Hospital has been named to Becker's Hospital Review's annual list of the "100 Great Hospitals in America. " Established in 1952, the Newport Beach-based 579-bed hospital was the only Orange County facility to join leading academic medical centers, community hospitals, flagship facilities and specialty hospitals from across the United States. Hoag recently announced that it will be affiliated with a new parent organization, Covenant Health Network. "We are thrilled to be named to Becker's Hospital Review's '100 Great Hospitals in America' list yet again," Robert T. Braithwaite, Hoag president and chief executive, wrote in an email.

It is one of the most vital health concerns in Orange County. Children's Hospital of Orange County, considered one of the best in the nation for 2011-12 by US News & World Report, launched a $125-million fundraising campaign in the spring of 2010, which will include the construction of a new patient tower set to open in the spring of 2013. Last week in Newport Beach, citizens who care deeply about the health of local children gathered at the Island Hotel for the fourth annual CHOC Cherishes Children Gala.

When your university president’s efforts have upped the school’s profile to a level of national recognition, giving him a job as the school’s ambassador probably isn’t a bad idea. Effective immediately, university president Murray Dempster is the chancellor at Vanguard University, where he will act as the school’s ambassador, serving as the face of Vanguard at community events and helping raise funds for the college. Dempster will resign as president Oct. 15 at a university board of trustees meeting.

Knowing you're one of the best is a good thing, but hearing that you're among the best is even better. UC Irvine was ranked in not one, but three categories of U.S. News & World Report's annual list of the best graduate schools in the nation. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you that UCI is tops in engineering and business, attracting the best young minds from throughout the state and nation. But the true accomplishment is for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts to be ranked as one of the best places to get a master's of fine arts degree.

The best schools in the country rely on driven parents, students and faculty, according to Newport Harbor High School Principal Michael Vossen and Corona del Mar High School Principal Fal Asrani. Both would know since they lead the two Newport-Mesa schools recently ranked among the best in the country by “U.S. News & World Report.” The magazine surveyed more than 18,500 schools nationwide looking for those that perform better than they’re statistically expected, have underprivileged students who score well on standardized tests and students who graduate prepared for college.

Shawbong Fok Walk along one of the fluorescent-lighted hallways of Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa and you will see a row of wood-framed pictures, listing its graduates, year by year in chronological order. At the end of the row, there is the 2003 graduating class frame, in which you see names like Robina Ali, Man Thi Nguyen, Horacio De La Vega, Bradford Cormany Beckett and Jameika Williams. Such diversity underscores the recent change in the legal profession, historically the bastion of white males, according to Robert Wylie, associate dean of Whittier Law School.

Whether you aspire to head a team or just want to know what it takes to be a successful supervisor, there's inspiration from coaches, scholars and political analysts in new nonfiction about leadership. Can CEOs take lessons from military leaders? They can and should, advises retired military officer and corporate executive William A. Cohen in "The New Art of the Leader." In the updated edition of this management classic, the former Air Force major general uses examples from Desert Storm and Bosnia to show how the battlefield can be an effective model for the boardroom.

"How will I pay for my college education?" is a question in the minds of many students when enrolling in a university. One of the many ways in which Vanguard University is seeking to eliminate this barrier for its students is through its eighth annual Vanguard Invitational Golf Tournament on Monday, April 23, at the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa. Participants — including alumni, friends and members of the business community — will participate in the scramble- format golf tournament.