University of Virginia Health System

According to the magazine's editors, ranked hospitals perform large numbers of tricky and risky procedures, and study after study shows that practice counts. Ranked hospitals 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 more options.

U.Va. specialties listed in the new guide and their rankings among hospitals nationwide are: hormonal disorders, 5; urology, 15; ear, nose and throat, 17; cancer, 23; gynecology, 24;  orthopedics, 28; respiratory disorders, 28; digestive disorders, 29; neurology and neurosurgery, 34; and kidney disease, 40.

"It is gratifying to be recognized as being one of America’s best hospitals in each of  these specialties," said R. Edward Howell, vice president and chief executive officer of the U.Va. Medical Center. "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."

This is the magazine's 14^th annual edition of "America's Best Hospitals", in which 203 top medical centers were ranked out of 6,003. To qualify, a hospital must be a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, affiliated with a medical school or provide at least nine of the 17 specified items of medical technology.

Next, the hospitals were assessed in the various specialties by either demonstrating that they had done a minimum number of specifically defined procedures, or have been cited by at least one physician responding to U.S. News surveys in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Hospitals that met the requirement received a score that assigns equal weight to reputation, mortality, and a group of other care-related factors such as nursing.

“Many of the areas in which we ranked in the top 50 represent diseases and conditions that are real concerns for people in this state, so hopefully, they will find it reassuring to see how well we compare to other medical centers across the entire country,” said Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., vice president and dean of the U.Va. School of Medicine.

July 17, 2003