San Antonio (July 6, 2004) – Thanks in large part to innovative faculty physicians of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Bexar County’s University Health System this week was named one of the Top 50 hospitals in the country in five clinical specialties by U.S. News & World Report.
The Health Science Center provides all the physicians to staff University Health System facilities, which collectively were recognized among America’s Best Hospitals in the July 5 edition of the newsmagazine. The Health System has been listed in the rankings every year since 2000.
This year, Health Science Center faculty earned Top 50 honors in five medical/surgical specialties: endocrinology including diabetes care, a first-time ranking; heart and heart surgery, also for the first time; kidney disease, which was listed in 2003; orthopedics, listed in 2003; and another repeat area, respiratory disorders.
University Health System, the primary teaching hospital system for the Health Science Center, is the only San Antonio hospital system included in the rankings. “The standards for ranking in Best Hospitals are rigorous,” U.S. News reported. “Of all 6,012 U.S. medical centers, only 177, or fewer than 1 in 30, were of high-enough quality to be ranked in even a single specialty this year.”
These 177 hospitals:
- Perform large numbers of complex procedures
- Adhere more closely to advanced treatment guidelines
- Incorporate new findings into patient care
- Conduct research that gives desperately ill patients more options
- Are members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, affiliated with a medical school (such as the Health Science Center’s) or provide services in at least nine of the 17 listed specialties.
The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago created the model for ranking America’s Best Hospitals.