North Carolina Baptist Hospital again was listed as one of America''s Best Hospitals in six categories by U.S. News & World Report in the issue of the magazine that goes on sale on July 16.
The magazine lists 50 hospitals in each of 17 categories.
North Carolina Baptist Hospital -- the teaching hospital of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center -- ranked 23rd nationally in geriatrics on the latest list, 24th in heart (which includes cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery), 24th in urology, 26th in ear, nose and throat, 39th in cancer and 50th in orthopedics.
The rankings are produced by combining a number of factors, including reputational score, mortality ratio (actual deaths compared to expected deaths in that specialty), whether the key technologies in that specialty are available, the hospital-wide ratio of registered nurses to beds, and the number of patients treated in that specialty.
In every instance, Baptist Hospital had all of the latest technologies that the magazine counted in measuring technology services. The hospital ranked 12th in cancer patient volume among the top 50 hospitals treating cancer, 22nd in patient volume among the top 50 hospitals treating heart problems, 14th in volume of ear, nose and throat cases, 18th among orthopedic services in patient volume and 26th in volume among urology services. In general, hospitals with the highest patient volumes have the best outcomes.
The overwhelming majority of the hospitals in the rankings are teaching hospitals.
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Contact: Robert Conn, Jim Steele or Mark Wright at (336) 716-4587