UCLA Medical Center ranks as one of the top five American hospitals-and the best hospital in the western United States for the 17th consecutive year-according to a U.S. News & World Report survey that reviewed patient outcomes data, reputation among physicians and other care-related factors.

The 17th annual guide to "America's Best Hospitals" highlights the magazine's July 17 edition. The rankings also are available on the Internet at www.usnews.com/besthospitals.

UCLA Medical Center is the only Southern California hospital to earn a spot on the magazine's "honor roll" rankings in each of the 17 years U.S. News & World Report has conducted the survey. The honor roll recognizes hospitals that demonstrate excellence across many specialties.

According to a statement from the magazine, the hospitals that make the honor roll are often centers that treat the sickest patients, perform higher volumes of complicated procedures and not only follow but often propose advanced treatment guidelines.

"[The honor-roll hospitals] conduct bench-to-bedside research. And they exploit the latest advances in imaging, surgical devices, and other technologies," U.S. News & World Report states. "The 14 hospitals on the Honor Roll demonstrate exceptional breadth of excellence."

"Our doctors, nurses and staff help the sick, advance medical knowledge and pursue scientific research so that the people of Los Angeles and beyond have access to the highest quality medical care," said Dr. David L. Callender, associate vice chancellor and CEO of the UCLA Hospital System. "This is a wonderful tribute to our outstanding medical and nursing staffs, and the entire health-care team at UCLA Medical Center."

Hospitals are ranked in 16 specialties, from cancer and heart disease to pediatrics and urology. In 11 of the 16 specialties, ranked hospitals must meet standards that are mostly driven by hard data. The U.S. News & World Report ranking also includes a reputation survey among randomly selected American Medical Association physicians, mortality data, and quality-of-care measures, such as nurse-to-patient ratios and the number of key technologies available.

"To once again be in the company of the nation's best hospitals, when the rapid changes in health care constantly challenge our commitment to excellence, makes us extraordinarily proud of
the dedication-day in and day out-of our physicians, scientists, nurses and our entire staff," said Dr. Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor of UCLA Medical Sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We congratulate each and every one of them for helping UCLA earn this well-deserved distinction. With accomplishments spanning every discipline, UCLA Medical Center truly has reason to celebrate."

Nationally, UCLA ranked among the top 20 in 15 of the 16 ranked specialty areas. In each of the following specialties, UCLA ranked best in the western United States (UCLA's national rankings are indicated): urology (No. 4); psychiatry at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA (No. 5); ophthalmology at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute (No. 5); digestive disorders (No. 5); rheumatology (No. 7); kidney disease (No. 8); orthopedics (No. 8); and heart and heart surgery (No. 9). Other specialties in which UCLA ranked nationally in the top 20 were neurology and neurosurgery (No. 7); cancer at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center (No. 9); endocrinology (No. 10); ear, nose and throat (No. 11); gynecology (No. 12); respiratory disorders (No. 13); and pediatrics (No. 15).

In addition to UCLA Medical Center, which was ranked No. 5 nationally, hospitals named to the 2006 honor roll are: Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. (No. 1); Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (No. 2); Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio (No. 3); Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (No. 4); New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell (No. 6); Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. (No. 7); Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. (No. 8); UC San Francisco Medical Center (No. 9); University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle (No. 10); Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. (No. 11); University of Michigan Hospitals and Health System in Ann Arbor (No. 12); Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Stanford, Calif. (No. 13); and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (No. 14).

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 Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA is a separately licensed acute psychiatric hospital providing adults, teens and children with a full continuum of psychiatric care, including inpatient, day hospital and outpatient services. Located in the UCLA Medical Center, the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA is a hospital-within-a-hospital that includes a 120-bed inpatient unit and an outpatient Children's Health Center that together serve more than 34,000 patients each year. In addition to providing well-child care and immunizations, Mattel Children's Hospital maintains the country's leading pediatric organ-transplant programs and is renowned for its research into pediatric cancers and epilepsy, as well as the genetics of childhood diseases.

For information about clinical programs or help in choosing a personal physician, call (800) UCLA-MD1 or visit http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu/.

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