Kentucky hospitals earn national rankings; UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital best in state.

The wait is over and many Kentucky hospitals are celebrating. Especially the employees at the Lexington, Ky.-based University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital, which was recently ranked the No. 1 hospital in Kentucky according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2012-13.  The hospital was also ranked nationally in orthopedics (No. 40) and high-performing in 10 adult specialties.

Overall, UK was among 140 of the 4,825 U.S. hospitals ranked in one or more 16 specialties.

“This acknowledges the hard work of our healthcare team in providing the highest quality patient care in the commonwealth and our efforts in making great strides toward our goal of being one of the premier academic medical centers in the country,” said Dr. Michael Karpf, UK executive vice president for health affairs. “We are committed to offering world-class advanced subspecialty care such as transplants, complex cardiovascular surgeries, innovative cancer treatments and pediatric subspecialties so a patient and their family never have to leave their home state to receive even the most complex medical care.”

U.S. News & World Report’s 23^rd annual listing of Best Hospitals showcased more than 720 of the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals. Fewer than 150 were nationally ranked in at least one of 16 medical specialties. Each was ranked among the country’s top hospitals in at least one medical specialty and/or ranked among the best hospitals in its metro area.

The top hospitals in the nation included: (No. 1) Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; (No. 2) Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore; (No.3) Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; (No. 4) Cleveland Clinic; and (No. 5) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles.

State Recognition
For the first time state rankings were included in the listing giving consumers a way to compare hospitals to other neighboring institutions across the state. The top five hospitals in Kentucky were:

1. University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital (Lexington)

2. Baptist Hospital East (Louisville) ranked #1 in Louisville metro area

2. Norton Healthcare (Louisville) ranked #1 in Louisville metro area

4. St. Elizabeth Edgewood (Edgewood) ranked #3 in Cincinnati metro area

5. Jewish Hospital (Louisville) ranked #3 in Louisville metro area

Within Louisville the top five hospitals included:

Baptist Hospital East (ranked #2 in Kentucky)

Norton Hospital (ranked #2 in Kentucky)

Jewish Hospital (ranked # 5 in Kentucky)

Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services (ranked # 7 in Indiana)

University of Louisville (ranked #7 in Kentucky)
Two Louisville, Ky.-based hospitals, Baptist Hospital East and Norton Healthcare, tied for first place in Metro Louisville and second place in Kentucky.

Baptist East was recognized for 11 medical specialties: diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; geriatrics; gynecology; heart and heart surgery; kidney disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics, pulmonary and urology.

“This ranking recognizes the excellent patient care provided every day by our staff and physicians,” said Baptist East president David Gray. “It is a great honor for our physicians and staff to be recognized at the national level.”

Norton Healthcare was rated as high-performing in cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonary and urology. Norton Healthcare was also ranked nationally in seven pediatric specialties.

“Given our focus on expanding our network through agreements with smaller regional hospitals, we were particularly pleased with our No.1 ranking in the Louisville area,” said Stephen A. Williams, president and CEO, Norton Healthcare.

Other stand-out hospitals in the Bluegrass Region included St. Elizabeth Edgewood, Edgewood, Ky., which was ranked third in Cincinnati metro area; Jewish Hospital, Louisville, Ky., which was ranked third in the Louisville metro area.

St. Elizabeth Edgewood performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals in 10 adult specialties; while Jewish Hospital performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals in eight adult specialties.

by Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman