Magazine Names Best U.S. Hospitals: Johns Hopkins Tops Rankings

U.S. News and World Report has published its 2006 list of America’s best hospitals.

Fourteen hospitals made the magazine’s honor roll, with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., in the top spot. Here’s the magazine’s honor roll:

1. JohnsHopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

2. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)

3. The Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)

4. Massachusetts GeneralHospital (Boston)

5. UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles)

6. New York-Presbyterian Hospital, The University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell (New York City)

7. Duke University Medical Center (Durham, N.C.)

8. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.)

9. Universityof California, San Francisco Medical Center

10. University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle)

11. Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston)

12. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health System (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

13. Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Stanford, Calif.)

14. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

The list is based on various factors, including: the hospitals’ reputation among board-certified physicians; quality-of-care measures such as ratio of nurses to patients; and in-hospital death rates for Medicare patients after taking into consideration the severity of the patients’ illness.

Health Care Varies Greatly at U.S. Hospitals

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Specialty Rankings

The magazine also ranked hospitals for 16 specialties. Here are the top three hospitals listed for cancer, heart and heart surgery, and pediatrics.

Cancer:

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York); University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston); Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

Heart and Heart Surgery:

The Cleveland Clinic; Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.); Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.);

Pediatrics:

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Children’s Hospital Boston; Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

Taking Charge of Your Hospital Stay

By Miranda Hitti, reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report, “Best Hospitals 2006,” July 9, 2006, online edition.