NEWSROOM
U.S. News Ranks Barnes-Jewish Among the Nation’s Best Hospitals
Media Contact:Jennifer Arvin
314-286-0301
jarvin@bjc.org
For 16th Consecutive Year, Only Missouri Hospital Ranked Among America’s Elite
July 11, 2008, ST. LOUIS — For the 16th consecutive year, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine, is the only St. Louis area hospital or medical institution listed among America’s elite medical centers in the U.S.News & World Report “America’s Best Hospitals” issue. Barnes-Jewish earned honors as part of the newsmagazine’s “Honor Roll,” while ranking among the top in 16 individual specialties.
Barnes-Jewish is the only “Honor Roll” hospital within a 250-mile radius of St. Louis to be recognized, with an overall ranking of 12th nationally. In addition, Barnes-Jewish ranked among the top 10 in five of 16 rated medical specialties and is the only St. Louis hospital to be ranked in more than one category.
The standards used to rank “America’s Best Hospitals” are rigorous. Of 5,453 U.S. hospitals, only 21 hospitals made the “Honor Roll,” a list reserved for medical centers with very high rankings in at least six specialties. Overall, only 170 have ranked specialties and only hospitals earning high marks in six or more of 16 select specialties made the “Honor Roll” of America’s best hospitals.
By individual specialty, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine rankings are:
- Ear, nose & throat — 6
- Kidney disease — 8
- Neurology & neurosurgery — 8
- Heart & heart surgery — 9
- Endocrinology — 10
- Orthopedics — 11
- Respiratory disorders — 12
- Ophthalmology — 12
- Psychiatry —14
- Urology —15
- Geriatrics —18
- Cancer —21
- Digestive disorders — 21
- Rheumatology —21
- Gynecology —40
The 2008 guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” appears online Friday, July 11 at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and in the July 21 issue of the national newsmagazine, which hits newsstands Monday, July 14.
“Ranking on the U.S.News ‘Honor Roll’ speaks to the combination of innovation and medical expertise from our Washington University physician partners and the caring nurses and staff at Barnes-Jewish who work so hard to uphold the highest standards of patient care,” says Andy Ziskind, MD, Barnes-Jewish Hospital president. “What we offer is care found only among national leaders in medicine, and that’s what makes us one of America’s top hospitals.”
“Each year, the honors bestowed upon Barnes-Jewish Hospital make us enormously proud of the health care team who make the hospital so very special to all of us who live here in St. Louis,” says Steven H. Lipstein, BJC HealthCare president and chief executive officer. “This year's recognition is especially rewarding as it serves as yet another reminder of how learning and innovation can come together to make BJC's largest hospital one of the best in the nation. Congratulations to all of the employees at Barnes-Jewish and our colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine.”
The current “America’s Best Hospitals” methodology was devised in 1993 at the University of Chicago. The 2008 rankings were produced by RTI international in Triangle Park, NC. Hospitals had to meet a series of progressively tougher standards to be ranked. To be considered at all, a hospital had to satisfy at least one of three requirements: membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals, medical school affiliation, and key technology-related services. From there, hospitals were ranked based on three elements: reputation, death rate and such care-related factors as nursing and patient services.
For the fifth year a hospital’s Magnet status affected its standing. Barnes-Jewish Hospital was named St. Louis’ first Magnet Hospital in 2003 by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, formally recognizing the hospital as meeting high standards of nursing excellence.
Four specialty areas — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — were ranked by reputation only. For the remaining 12 specialties — cancer; heart and heart surgery; digestive disorders; ear, nose and throat; geriatrics; gynecology; endocrinology; kidney disease; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; respiratory disorders; and urology — U.S.News combined each hospital's reputation ranking with quantitative medical data to determine the final scores.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a member of BJC HealthCare, which provides a full range of health care services through its 13 hospitals and more than 100 health care sites in Missouri and Illinois. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is also affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, ranked as one of the nation’s top five medical schools by U.S.News & World Report.
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