July 13, 2007
UW Medical Center, specialty programs rank among best in nation
The University of Washington Medical Center’s exceptional performance was noted in the U.S. News 2007 rankings of “America’s Best Hospitals,” released Friday, July 13. UWMC was ranked as the 11th best hospital in the country.
Once again, UW Medical Center was rated among the top U.S. hospitals as it has been since U.S. News began rankings in 1990. Of the 5,462 hospitals considered for this year’s survey, just 173 scored high enough to be ranked in any specialty area. Only 18 were named to the 2007 Honor Roll, demonstrating exceptional breadth of excellence.
Several programs at UWMC also were ranked including: rehabilitation (3) (based at UWMC and Harborview Medical Center); cancer (6); gynecology (9); geriatrics (13); ear, nose and throat (13); respiratory disorders (14); orthopaedics (15); kidney disease (16); endocrinology (16); rheumatology (20); urology (24); neurology/neurosurgery (30), (based at Harborview and UWMC); and digestive disorders (30). Harborview, which is owned by King County and operated by the University of Washington, ranked 39th in orthopaedics.
For 12 of the 16 specialties ranked, U.S. News evaluated hospitals using a mathematical model combining reputation among board-certified specialists, mortality, and other medical data such as the various medical technologies available.
In the other five specialties — ophthalmology, pediatrics, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — rankings were based on a reputational survey of physicians. Pediatric rankings will appear in a future issue of U.S. News.
The survey methodology included whether a facility is designated as a Magnet Hospital by the American Nurse Credentialing Center for meeting high standards of nursing excellence. UW Medical Center was the first in the nation to be designated a Magnet Hospital in 1994 and the first to receive the honor three times.
The complete U.S. News Honor Roll of the nation’s best 18 hospitals includes:
1. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
3. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
4. Cleveland Clinic
5. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
6. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
7. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. and University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (tie)
9. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
10. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
11. UW Medical Center
12. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
13. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
14. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor
15. Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, Calif. and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn. (tie)
17. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles and University of Chicago Medical Center (tie)
For more information on the rankings, go to http://www.usnews.com/besthospitals
