UCLA Medical Center ranks as the best hospital in the western United States for the 13th consecutive year, according to a U.S. News & World Report survey of 2,550 board-certified physicians from across the nation. The 13th annual guide to “America’s best hospitals� will be on newsstands July 15. The rankings also are available on the Internet at www.usnews.com.
UCLA Medical Center, ranked as the fifth-best hospital nationally in the latest survey, is the only Southern California hospital to earn a spot on the magazine’s “honor roll� rankings during the 13 years U.S. News has conducted the survey. The honor roll recognizes hospitals that demonstrate excellence across many specialties.
“To be in the company of the nations’ best hospitals when the rapid changes in health care constantly challenge our commitment to excellence, is to make us extraordinarily proud of our employees’ dedication,� said Dr. Gerald S. Levey, provost of UCLA Medical Sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “We congratulate our faculty and staff for helping UCLA earn this well-deserved distinction.�
A survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago of 150 board-certified physicians in each of the 17 medical specialties serves as the base for the U.S. News rankings. Each physician ranks the leading hospitals in his or her specialty.
“Judging the quality of medical care is an increasingly important and complex issue,� said Dr. Michael Karpf, director of UCLA Medical Center. “This survey provides one key source of information for consumers and is especially significant because it demonstrates the respect for UCLA Medical Center by a peer group of physicians nationwide. This is a wonderful tribute to our outstanding medical and nursing staffs, as well as all members of the healthcare team at UCLA Medical Center.�
UCLA ranked highly in numerous specialty areas, including a number one ranking in geriatrics for the 11th consecutive year. In the field of psychiatry, the UCLA Neuropsychiatric
Hospital ranked sixth in the country and best in the western United States for the 11th consecutive year. UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Jules Stein Eye Institute also were judged best in the western United States, with national rankings of eighth and fifth respectively.
UCLA specialty areas ranked in the top 20 are: cancer (8); digestive disorders (7); ear, nose and throat (7); eye care (5); geriatrics (1); gynecology (5); heart and heart surgery (11); hormonal disorders (6); kidney disease (7); neurology and neurosurgery (8); orthopedics (7); pediatrics (13); psychiatry (6); respiratory disorders (16); rheumatology (4); and urology (4).
In addition to UCLA, hospitals named to the 2002 honor roll are: Johns Hopkins in Baltimore (1); Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (2); Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Cleveland Clinic (3); Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. (6); UC San Francisco Medical Center (7); University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor (8); Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis (9); Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (10);
University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle and New York Presbyterian Hospital (11); Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (13); Stanford University Hospital and University of Chicago Hospitals (14); University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinic in Nashville (16).
UCLA Medical Center is a nonprofit, self-supporting 668-bed hospital providing patient care in all medical specialties. It is the primary teaching hospital for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital is a 120-bed facility providing adults, teens and children with a full continuum of psychiatric care, including inpatient, day hospital and outpatient services.
For information about clinical programs or help choosing a personal physician, call (800) UCLA-MD1 or visit www.healthcare.ucla.edu.