Newly created ranking names VUMC as region’s No. 1 provider
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the top health care provider in the Nashville region according to U.S. News & World Report’s first-ever “Best Hospitals Metro Area” rankings.
The new rankings recognize 622 hospitals in or near major cities and are based on the magazine’s annual summer ranking of “America’s Best Hospitals,” which last year recognized 152 hospitals, including Vanderbilt.
The goal of the new ranking is to give consumers in the nation’s 52 most-populous metropolitan areas the ability to identify the top-performing hospitals in their respective regions.
“The new rankings can tell you which hospitals are worth considering for most medical problems if you live in or near a major metro area,” said Avery Comarow, health rankings editor for U.S. News.
To be ranked in its metro region, a hospital had to score in the top 25 percent among its peers in at least one of 16 medical specialties.
Vanderbilt was listed as No. 1 in the Nashville region, thanks to being nationally ranked in 10 of 16 specialties and deemed high performing in three others.
Nationally ranked specialties are: cancer; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; geriatrics; gynecology; heart and heart surgery; kidney disorders; pulmonology; and urology.
High-performing specialties are: neurology and neurosurgery; orthopaedics; and rheumatology.
Children’s hospitals are not included in the new rankings, as few metro areas have more than one.