U-M Hospitals and Health Centers ranked 14th among America's best hospitals

U-M Hospitals and Health Centers again make honor roll of top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; all 16 specialties honored

The University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers have been ranked among the country's best hospitals, placing 14th overall for the second consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report magazine. This year, U-M was ranked in every specialty and those rankings went up in 11 of the 16 specialties.

The results, released online today, mark the 16th year in a row that U-M has been named to the honor roll of "America's Best Hospitals."

U-M is the only hospital in Michigan ranked among the 14 institutions on the national honor roll, which signifies all-around excellence in multiple areas of specialized medical care.

U.S. News ranks each of these specialties individually, and U-M earned a high national ranking in all 16 categories. In virtually all cases, U-M was the highest-ranked hospital in Michigan for each specific treatment area. Of the 4,852 hospitals considered for the rankings, only 152 made the list in even one specialty.

"We are pleased to be nationally recognized in so many areas as a result of the hard work of our faculty and staff," says Doug Strong, M.B.A., director and chief executive officer of the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers. "It is our wide-ranging strength in so many specialties that keeps us high on the list year after year."

In one category – ear, nose & throat diseases – U-M made the top 10 in the country, ranking ninth.

In 14 other U-M specialties, U-M ranked in the top 20 nationwide. These include the specialty care of ear, nose & throat diseases (ranked 9th); urology (ranked 11th); geriatrics (ranked 12th) and gastrointestinal disorders (ranked 13th).

Also recognized was the specialty care at U-M's Comprehensive Cancer Center (ranked 13th), U-M's Cardiovascular Center (ranked 11th) and the Kellogg Eye Center's ophthalmologic care (ranked 17th).

U.S. News determines the "America's Best Hospitals" rankings based on hospital reputation in particular specialties, and, for all but four specialties, on mortality rates and a mix of care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. Rankings in Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Rehabilitation and Rheumatology are determined by reputation among board-certified specialists.

The U-M Hospitals and Health Centers are part of the U-M Health System, which also has been recognized by U.S. News as having one of the nation's top medical schools and top children's hospitals.

Earlier this year, U.S. News ranked the U-M Medical School 6th among the best research-oriented medical schools.

In May, the magazine ranked the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital among the best pediatric hospitals in the nation, ranking fourth in heart and heart surgery, 13th in orthopedics, 19th in kidney care, along with nation rankings in the pediatric specialties of cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, pulmonology, neonatology and urology.

For the 2010 "America's Best Hospitals" rankings, U-M's rank in each specialty category is:

Overall: 14

Cancer: 13

Ear, Nose & Throat: 9

Endocrinology: 19

Gastrointestinal: 13

Geriatrics: 12

Gynecology: 18

Heart and Heart Surgery: 11

Kidney: 20

Neurology & Neurosurgery: 22

Ophthalmology: 17

Orthopedics: 24

Psychiatry: 20

Rehabilitation: 19

Respiratory Disorders: 14

Rheumatology: 14

Urology: 11

U.S. News' 2010-11 publication of "America's Best Hospitals" will be on sale at newsstands on July 27. The rankings are also available online at http://health.usnews.com/.