August 2, 2016 By Nickie Doria – University of Florida Health Shands Hospital is now tied for top adult hospital in Florida, according to the 2016-2017 U.S. News & World Report adult specialty rankings of the nation’s hospitals.
Rankings were released today (Aug. 2), and UF Health Neuromedicine climbed 19 spots from last year to 21st in the country making it the highest ranked neuromedicine program in the state and placing it among the top two neuromedicine programs in the Southeast.
Earlier this summer U.S. News also recognized UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital as one of the nation’s best hospitals for children, with UF Health Pediatric Neuromedicine ranking 46th.
“These rankings reflect our unwavering dedication to providing high-quality care for our patients, and our focus on continually evolving our standard of care,” said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “Our continued rise in the rankings validates the work that our physicians, nurses and staff do every day.”
U.S. News & World Report assessed 16 adult medical specialties ranging from cancer to urology in approximately 5,000 hospitals. Today’s rankings put UF Health Neuromedicine among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide who provide neurosurgical and neurological care.
William A. Friedman, MD, chair of the UF department of neurosurgery said there are several factors that influenced the program’s jump this year, the largest year-over-year jump at UF Health in the last decade.
“This improved ranking reflects sustained clinical excellence, devotion on the part of the hospital and the academic departments to improve patient quality and safety, and a dramatic improvement in our research capability with many new first-in-human treatment protocols now being developed here,” Friedman said.
Nearly 2 million hospital inpatients a year face surgery or special care that poses unusual technical challenges or significantly increased risk of death or harm because of age, physical condition or existing conditions. The US News and World Report rankings provide a tool to help these patients find especially skilled inpatient care.
Each hospital in the 12 data-driven rankings received an overall score from 0 to 100 that was based on four elements: reputation, patient survival, patient safety and care-related factors such as the amount of nurse staffing and the breadth of patient services. The hospitals with the 50 highest scores in each specialty were ranked.
Michael S. Okun, chair of the UF department of neurology, said the increase in ranking was made possible because of the collaboration with colleagues in neurosurgery, partners in the neuromedicine quality initiative, faculty, staff, fellows, students and residents who work together as a team each and every day.
“We are all actively engaged in the process of building the perfect patient experience in anticipation for a November 2017 opening of the new, free-standing UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital,” Okun said. “This recent ranking is reflective of the power of togetherness as we strive for excellence in clinical care, research, education and outreach.”
This year’s UF Health ranked specialties are as follows: nephrology, (tied for 11th), pulmonology (25th), gynecology (29th), geriatrics (33rd), urology (42nd), diabetes and endocrinology (tied for 48th) and cancer (49th).
Learn more about UF Health Neuromedicine.