Memphis, Tenn. (July 19, 2013) – U.S. News & World Report rankings have once again recognized several core teaching hospitals for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) as among the best in the nation. This year, four of UTHSC’s core teaching hospitals appear on the U.S. News list — Methodist University Hospital and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, both in Memphis, the UT Medical Center in Knoxville, and the Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga.
“It is a pleasure to congratulate our hospital partners for this significant achievement,” said UTHSC Chancellor Steve J. Schwab, MD. “It’s equally important to recognize that it is our faculty’s diligence, experience and sustained commitment to high quality patient care that are a foundation for this ongoing success. UTHSC faculty members are the physicians and clinicians who teach the generations of health care professionals to come, and who simultaneously provide the compassionate, quality care in hospitals across this state and region. That is the foundation for being the best in the nation.”
Methodist Hospitals of Memphis has been ranked as one of the best adult hospitals for 2013-14 in the country for nephrology (#49) and was ranked #1 in the Memphis metro area. Methodist Hospitals of Memphis is comprised of Methodist University Hospital (MUH), Methodist North Hospital, Methodist South Hospital and Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital. One of UTHSC’s primary teaching hospitals in Memphis and home of the UT Methodist Physicians Practice Group, MUH was also recognized for an additional national special status in solid organ transplantation. Eight other specialties were commended as high performing, with MUH being declared the best adult hospital in West Tennessee and ranked as the #2 adult hospital in the state of Tennessee.
The UT Medical Center in Knoxville was declared the #3 adult hospital in the state of Tennessee and the best adult hospital in East Tennessee. It received high performance commendations in 11 specialties.
The Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga was declared high performing in three areas and best in the Chattanooga metro area.
The adult hospitals join the nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital – home of the UT Le Bonheur Pediatric Specialists Practice Group. Earlier this year, for the third consecutive year, Le Bonheur was ranked by U.S. News among the nation’s best children’s hospitals. On this year’s list, Le Bonheur has five nationally ranked specialties.
The annual U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings, now in their 24th year, recognize hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients. The rankings for adult hospitals were recently released; however, rankings for children’s hospitals were provided earlier in the summer. U.S. News evaluates hospitals in 16 adult specialties. In most specialties, it ranks the nation’s top 50 hospitals and recognizes other high-performing hospitals that provide care at nearly the level of their nationally ranked peers.
“A hospital that emerges from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News Health Rankings Editor. “Only about 15 percent of hospitals are recognized for their high performance as among their region’s best. Just three percent of all hospitals earn a national ranking in any specialty.”
U.S. News publishes Best Hospitals to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age. Objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties.
As Tennessee’s only public, statewide, academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service. Offering a broad range of postgraduate and selected baccalaureate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. UTHSC also educates and trains cohorts of medicine, pharmacy and/or allied health students — in addition to medical residents and fellows — at its major sites in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville. Founded in 1911, during its more than 100 years, UT Health Science Center has educated and trained more than 56,000 health care professionals in academic settings and health care facilities across the state. For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.