U.S. News and World Report has recognized 10 University Health Center specialties in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" issue, which hit newsstands July 28th.
Health Center specialties recognized in the magazine are: urology, which ranked 15th nationwide; hormonal disorders, which ranked 5th; ear, nose and throat, which ranked 17th; cancer, ranked 23rd; gynecology, ranked 24th; orthopedics, ranked 28th; respiratory disorders, also ranked 28th; digestive disorders, ranked 29th; neurology and neurosurgery, ranked 34th; and kidney disease, ranked 40th.
This year marks the second in a row that these 10 departments received the magazine's attentions, up from the center's 2001 showing, in which eight departments were lauded.
According to the magazine's statement of methodology, ranked hospitals shared common traits.
At the chosen hospitals "doctors perform large numbers of tricky and risky procedures and ... also tend to adhere more closely to advanced treatment guidelines, to incorporate new findings into patient care, and to conduct research that gives desperately ill patients additional options," wrote the magazine's editorial staff.
Of the nation's 6,003 medical centers, 203 were featured in the issue, the magazine's 14th such guide. Featured hospitals all were required either to be affiliated with a medical school, a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals or to provide at least 9 of the 17 ranked specialties.
The magazine then looked at qualified hospitals to determine either that their physicians had performed a minimum number of specifically defined procedures or that they had been cited as favorable by at least one physician responding to U.S. News surveys distributed between 2001 and 2003.
Hospitals which met this criterion were then assessed based on reputation, mortality rates, and other care-related factors such as nursing, which all were given equal weight.
While inclusion in the magazine's rankings is satisfying, the health center will continue to focus on meeting the needs of individual patients, said R. Edward Howell, University vice president and chief executive officer of the University Medical Center.
"It is gratifying to be recognized as being one of America's best hospitals in each of these specialties," Howell said. "However, the real measure of our success is how well we serve each patient every day. We continue to strive to provide the best care possible for all those we serve."
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