U.S. News & World Report ranks UT Southwestern as best hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth region

Jul 19 2011

For the second year in a row, UT Southwestern Medical Center is the top-ranked hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of the nation's best hospitals.  

UT Southwestern earned its No. 1 ranking by being nationally recognized in six specialties: urology, cardiology/heart surgery, diabetes/endocrinology, gynecology, nephrology and neurology/neurosurgery. The medical center previously had been recognized as No. 1 in 2010 based on U.S. News & World Report's rankings.

"These ratings are the latest acknowledgement of UT Southwestern's University Hospitals and Clinics' place among the nation's leading medical institutions in providing care to patients while remaining committed to ground-breaking research," said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, the university's president. "The new rankings reflect our commitment to deliver consistently outstanding patient care to the local community, North Texas and the nation. Our faculty physicians and researchers, residents and fellows, nurses and other staff remain focused on our mission to provide exceptional patient care, advance medical science and prepare the next generation of caregivers and scientists."

The nationally ranked specialties are:

• Urology, UT Southwestern's highest-rated specialty, which has set national standards for patient outcomes.
• Cardiology/heart surgery, where UT Southwestern combines award-winning research with life-saving outcomes for the most complex patient cases.
• Gynecology, where UT Southwestern physicians have written the leading textbooks on the care of women.
• Neurology/neurosurgery, where UT Southwestern physicians routinely deal with the most difficult cases referred from around the region, state and nation.
• Diabetes/endocrinology, where the institution's leading-edge research and personalized patient care is addressing one of the fastest growing diseases affecting Americans.
• Nephrology, where UT Southwestern physicians and surgeons are working to cure kidney disease and heal patients, as well as achieve exceptional outcomes for transplants.

The magazine rated UT Southwestern as high-performing in six specialties: cancer, ear/nose/throat, gastroenterology, geriatrics, orthopaedics and pulmonology.

Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report has identified the nation's elite medical centers with its annual "America's Best Hospitals" edition. The magazine produces rankings in 16 specialties, looking only at hospitals affiliated with medical schools, at least 200 patient beds or membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals. Hospitals also must be large enough to meet the magazine's criteria for volume in specific procedures and conditions.

In 12 of the 16 specialties, the magazine factored in reputation, mortality index, patient safety index and other elements, such as nurse staffing ratios and trauma center designations. In the other four specialties the magazine went by reputation alone, determined by a nationwide survey of physicians.

"The new Best Hospitals metro 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, the magazine's health rankings editor.

SOURCE UT Southwestern Medical Center