Akron’s adult hospitals are among the nation’s best in two specialties each in this year’s U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals listing.
For the second consecutive year, Akron General Medical Center ranks among the country’s top hospitals for patients with lung conditions (40th) and ear, nose and throat problems (45th), according to the report released today.
“We are thrilled to receive this important designation from U.S. News in their impressive listing of America’s best hospitals,” Dr. Thomas “Tim” Stover, Akron General Health System’s president and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. “We are completely focused on our patients every hour of every day, dedicating our efforts to providing the highest quality care safely and compassionately.”
Summa Health System’s Akron City and St. Thomas hospitals join the national listing by ranking in the top 50 nationwide for diabetes/endocrinology (44th) and gastroenterology (48th).
“Summa Health System is extremely proud of the rankings we have achieved in this year’s U.S. News report,” Thomas J. Strauss, president and chief executive, said in an email. “... [To] be ranked again nationally in two specialties is an honor. I commend all who work in our endocrinology and gastroenterology departments and thank them for their great service to patients.”
Northeast Ohio is well represented in the national hospital rankings, now in their 25th year.
The Cleveland Clinic again ranks as the fourth best overall hospital in the country and No. 1 for cardiology/heart surgery for the 20th consecutive year.
Dr. Bruce Lytle, chair of the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute, said the hospital always strives to improve, regardless of being nationally ranked year after year.
“We’re grateful for the recognition, but we’re trying to be better every day,” he said.
As a result of the expertise developed at the Cleveland Clinic over the years, about half of patients undergoing the estimated 4,000 to 4,200 heart surgeries there each year come from outside Ohio, he said.
The Cleveland Clinic also is ranked the best in the nation in urology and among the top 10 in 11 other specialties.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UH) in Cleveland is ranked among the nation’s top 50 hospitals in a dozen specialties.
MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland also made the listing, ranking 35th in the country for endocrinology.
U.S. News named the Cleveland Clinic the best hospital in Ohio, followed by UH, Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Akron General and Summa.
Hospitals often tout their inclusion on the prestigious national list in ads, billboards and other marketing initiatives. Researchers considered reputation among doctors, patient survival rates and other care-related factors, such as nurse-to-patient ratios, in determining the rankings.
Nearly 5,000 hospitals were graded. About 3 percent scored high enough to rank nationwide in at least one category.
Pediatric hospitals were evaluated in a previous report that also is available online. The complete list of rankings is available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.
