July 23, 2009
‘U.S. News & World Report’ ranks UW Medical Center 12th among top hospitals
UW Medical Center (UWMC) is ranked among the nation’s top hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 edition of America’s Best Hospitals, and made the Honor Roll for its breadth of excellence in specialty care. The 2009 edition is accessible online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and on sale at newsstands.
UW Medical Center has been rated among the leading hospitals in the United States since U.S. News began rankings in 1990. Of the nation’s 4,861 hospitals considered for this year’s survey, only 174 scored high enough to be ranked in even one of 16 specialty areas. UW Medical Center ranked 12th in the nation and was among just 21 hospitals qualified to be listed in the 2009 Honor Roll for achieving high scores in six or more specialties.
UW Medical Center is part of the UW Medicine health system, which includes Harborview Medical Center, the UW School of Medicine, UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, and Airlift Northwest.
Several UW Medicine programs were ranked highly including: Rehabilitation (3) (based at UWMC and Harborview Medical Center); Cancer (6); Ear, nose and throat (12);
Geriatric care (14) (based at Harborview Medical Center); Gynecology (15); Orthopaedics at UWMC (15); Respiratory disorders (16); Kidney disorders (16); Orthopaedics at Harborview Medical Center (18); Diabetes and endocrine disorders (20); Rheumatology (22); Digestive disorders (25);Neurology/neurosurgery (25) (based at Harborview and UWMC); and Urology (30).
For 12 of the 16 specialties ranked, U.S. News evaluated hospitals on several elements: reputation, death rate, patient safety, nurse staffing, Nurse Magnet Hospital designation, type and number of Medicare discharges, patient-care services, presence of a Level 1 or 2 trauma center, designation as a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center, key technologies, presence of a National Institute on Aging-certified Alzheimer’s Center and a Level 4 Epilepsy Center, accreditation for cell transplants to treat cancer, and quality measures like patient volume and nursing care. In the other four specialties —ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — rankings were based solely on a reputational survey of board-certified physicians who were asked which were the best hospitals in their specialty for handling the most challenging cases and procedures.
For more information on the rankings, go to www.usnews.com/besthospitals.
