WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is listed as one of “America's Best Hospitals” in five categories in rankings to be published in the 2009-2010 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.
The rankings are accessible today (Thursday) online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and in magazines on newsstands Tuesday, July 21. The rankings list the top 50 hospitals and medical centers, out of a total of 4,861 hospitals in the U.S., in each of 16 categories.
Wake Forest Baptist is ranked in respiratory disorders (20th), cancer (26th), kidney disease (26th), urology (41st) and gynecology (46th). The achievement of the gynecology ranking follows several years of building a world-class program at the Medical Center.
“I am thrilled to learn that we are ranked as one of the top programs in gynecology in the country,” said David C. Merrill, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “The credit for this achievement lies both with our excellent full-time faculty and the tremendous, state-of-the-art facilities at Wake Forest Baptist.”
The “America's Best Hospitals” guide lists a total of only 174 medical centers nationwide that are ranked in the top 50 in one or more of 16 specialties. Additional data are available online for another 1,500 hospitals that qualified to be considered but did not score high enough to be ranked in a specialty.
The rankings in 12 specialties, including the five in which Wake Forest Baptist was listed, are predominantly driven by data in four components: reputation, mortality rate, patient safety, and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. The goal of the rankings is to identify medical centers that excel at treating a variety of demanding illnesses within a specialty. Four other specialties are ranked solely by reputation among physicians in each specialty.
“When the stakes are high, you want the best care you can get for someone close to you,” said Avery Comarow, health rankings editor for U.S. News & World Report. “These are hospitals that are used to getting the sickest patients.”
Wake Forest Baptist has been ranked in “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report since 1993.
Media Relations
Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587