Emory Report
July 21, 2008
Volume 60, Number 35

Emory Hospital rankings

Speciality/Rank
Ophthalmology 9
Geriatrics 11
Psychiatry 11
Heart & Heart Surgery 13
Neurology/Neurosurgery 13
Ear, Nose & Throat 19
Kidney Disease 20
Cancer 47

   

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July 21, 2008
Emory maintains ranking among top U.S. hospitals

By Lance Skelly

Emory University Hospital again joins the prestigious ranks of America’s top medical institutions in the annual U.S. News & World Report guide to “America’s Best Hospitals.”

Emory ranked among the nation’s best hospitals in eight specialties, including seven top 20 rankings and a top 10 ranking for Ophthalmology. Overall, Emory is one of only 170 hospitals, out of more than 5,400 medical centers in the country to be named in even one of the magazine’s top 50 specialty rankings. And its eight specialties are more than any other hospital in Georgia.

“The dedication and commitment to excellence by thousands of physicians, nurses, researchers, medical support staff and employees across the entire Emory Healthcare system is certainly validated by this report today,” says John T. Fox, Emory Healthcare president and CEO. “While our mission of delivering compassionate care and scientific discovery is recognized each day by our patients, we are challenged daily by our own success to work even harder, to achieve greater outcomes, and to continue building a more patient- and family-focused model of care that will maintain Emory’s position as a world leader across all disciplines of medicine and clinical care.”

Included in this year’s ranking were cancer services. Emory is the only facility in Georgia to be ranked in the top 50 for cancer services.

“This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication put forth by everyone involved in cancer treatment, research and care at Emory University,” says Brian Leyland-Jones, director of Emory Winship Cancer Institute. “In addition, as we continue to work towards NCI [National Cancer Institute] cancer center designation we are actively recruiting extraordinary talent in basic, translational and clinical science to enhance the quality and depth of our research and to accelerate the pace of discovery.”

The rankings in 12 of the 16 specialties weigh three elements equally: reputation, death rate, and a set of care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. In these 12 specialties, hospitals have to pass through several gates to be ranked and considered a Best Hospital.

In the four other specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — ranking is based solely on reputation, derived from the three most recent physician surveys.