U.S. News and World Report has again named Vanderbilt University Medical Center among the premier specialty care providers in the nation as well as the No. 1 hospital in the Metro Nashville area and the No. 1 hospital in Tennessee.
In the magazine’s 2015-2016 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals,” released today (July 21), VUMC had 12 out of a possible 16 specialties either nationally ranked or designated as nationally high performing.
The Medical Center’s top showing in U.S. News “Regional Recognitions” segment marks the fourth year in a row VUMC has been named No. 1 in both the Nashville Metro area and Tennessee. VUMC has been ranked No. 1 in this segment since it was introduced in 2012.
“These rankings, and the other distinctions we receive throughout the year, offer affirmation for the longstanding commitment we place on providing our patients the very best,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., deputy vice chancellor for Health Affairs and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System. “I want to congratulate the faculty and staff in our nationally ranked and high performing specialties for achieving these distinctions, and also express my gratitude to everyone for keeping VUMC ranked No. 1 in Metro Nashville and Tennessee for the fourth consecutive year.”
The following VUMC specialty programs were nationally ranked by U.S. News in this year’s edition: Cancer (33); Cardiology and Heart Surgery (34); Diabetes and Endocrinology (32); Ear, Nose and Throat (16); Nephrology (8); Neurology and Neurosurgery (31); Pulmonology (16); and Urology (7).
High-performing specialty programs were: Gastroenterology and GI Surgery; Geriatrics; Gynecology; and Orthopaedics.
U.S. News evaluated 4,716 hospitals across the country, and only 2,265 — 48 percent — performed well enough to have even a single specialty program ranked as being among the best in the nation. To be eligible, hospitals must either be a teaching hospital, be affiliated with a medical school, and have at least 200 beds or at least 100 beds plus certain medical technologies.
RTI International, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, compiled all data and produced the rankings for U.S. News. The “America’s Best Hospitals” rankings are accessible online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and the publication’s print edition is scheduled to hit newsstands in August.
In a separate ranking released last month, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital was named by U.S. News as one of the elite children’s hospitals in the nation, with 10 out of a possible 10 specialties nationally ranked. Children’s Hospital specialties ranked this year were: Cancer; Cardiology and Heart Surgery; Diabetes and Endocrinology; Gastroenterology and GI Surgery; Neonatology; Nephrology; Neurology and Neurosurgery; Pulmonology; Orthopaedics; and Urology.