UNC Hospitals Ranked in Seven Specialties

Seven medical specialties at UNC Hospitals are among the top 50 programs nationally in U.S. News & World Report‘s latest “America’s Best Hospitals” rankings.

The UNC Hospitals programs, and their top 50 rankings, are:

• cancer, 40th (the ranking is down from 37th a year ago and from 29th in 2004);
• digestive disorders, 26th (the ranking is down from 22nd a year ago and from 14th in 2004);
• ear, nose and throat, 18th (the ranking is up from 19th last year and from 22nd in 2004);
• gynecology, 14th (the ranking is up from 18th last year and from 29th in 2004);
• kidney disease, 29th (the ranking is down from 27th last year and from 22nd in 2004);
• urology, 31st (the ranking is up from 35th last year and from 43rd in 2004); and
• psychiatry, 22nd (the ranking is down from 20th last year; it was not ranked in 2004).

According to U.S. News, only 176 hospitals nationwide out of 5,189 that were evaluated “scored high enough this year in such measures of quality as mortality and patient volume to be ranked in any specialty.”

To be ranked, a hospital had to be a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school, or provide at least nine of 18 key technologies, such as shaped beam radiation, an advanced cancer therapy. This year, fewer than a third of the hospitals qualified.

The magazine unveiled the rankings July 7 for the issue that will appear on newsstands July 11. UNC Hospitals has been included in the rankings for the past 14 years in a row.

“A year ago we launched an additional mission at UNC Health Care – to become the nation’s No. 1 public academic medical institution,” said Dr. William L. Roper, dean of UNC’s School of Medicine and chief executive officer of the UNC Health Care System.

“I think the positive movement in these rankings is indicative of our progress in this long-term process,” Roper said. “We do tremendous work here in our efforts to lead in health care, teach doctors and care for patients, and our excellence is becoming more and more known nationally. The U.S. News & World Report rankings are an important measurement tool, and once again we have placed quite well. I’m very pleased with our showing this year.”