Four Northwestern Medicine hospitals have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report in its 2018-19 Best Hospitals rankings.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital has again been recognized as one of the top hospitals in the country, ranking 13th on the prestigious Best Hospitals Honor Roll. Northwestern Memorial remained ranked first in both the Chicago Metro Region and Illinois for the seventh consecutive year.
Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital was ranked sixth in the Chicago Metro Region and seventh in Illinois. Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital and Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital were both ranked 13th in the Chicago Metro Region and 16th in Illinois.
“U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings of Northwestern Medicine is a direct reflection of our relentless pursuit of better medicine,” said Dean M. Harrison, president and chief executive officer of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. “As Chicago’s premier academic health system, we are proud of our talented physicians, exceptional nurses and dedicated staff who collaborate each day to provide world-class care to the patients we are privileged to serve.”
The Best Hospitals Honor Roll is a distinction awarded to 20 U.S. hospitals that deliver the highest quality of care across a range of specialties, procedures and conditions. U.S. News evaluated hospitals across 16 specialties and nine procedures and conditions.
Northwestern Memorial was nationally ranked in 11 out of 16 specialties with two high performing specialties and was high performing in all nine procedures and conditions.
Of the 11 nationally ranked specialties, three clinical programs at Northwestern Memorial are ranked among the top 10 hospitals in the country: Cardiology & Heart Surgery (No. 7), Geriatrics (No. 9), Neurology and Neurosurgery (No. 8). In addition to its top 10 programs, Northwestern Memorial was also nationally ranked or recognized as high performing in the following specialties: Cancer (No. 12), Ear, Nose and Throat (No. 49), Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (No. 30), Gynecology (No. 13), Nephrology (No. 35), Orthopaedics (No. 12), Pulmonology (No. 25), Urology (No. 26), Diabetes & Endocrinology (High Performing) and Rheumatology (High Performing).
Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital also ranked in Orthopaedics (No. 32) making the specialty the only in which Northwestern Medicine has two nationally ranked clinical programs at two hospitals.
“Having two Northwestern Medicine hospitals ranked among the best orthopaedics programs in the country is a recognition of the advanced musculoskeletal care provided across our health system in the communities where our patients live and work,” said Terrance Peabody, MD, chair of Orthopaedics at Northwestern Memorial. “Our health system is home to some of the most talented orthopaedic surgeons in the country who are focused not only on providing world-class clinical care, but also strive to advance our specialty through innovative research, finding better treatments and training the next generation of surgeons. We’re proud to have Northwestern Memorial and Central DuPage Hospitals recognized for being leaders in orthopaedics and look forward to continuing to expand this excellence across our health system.”
Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital was also recognized as high performing in Diabetes & Endocrinology, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery and Neurology & Neurosurgery. Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital was recognized as high performing in three specialties: Geriatrics, Orthopaedics and Urology. Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital was also recognized as High Performing in Gastroenterology & GI Surgery.
The Best Hospitals methodologies in most areas of care are based largely or entirely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing among other care-related indicators.
AbilityLab and Lurie Children’s Rank on Top
Meanwhile, the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (previously known as the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) continues to be recognized as the national leader in physical medicine and rehabilitation, topping the U.S. News list for 28 consecutive years. The AbilityLab is the only hospital of its kind to hold this distinction.
Earlier this summer, U.S. News ranked Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago the top children’s hospital in Illinois and the 10th best children’s hospital in the country. Lurie Children’s is also the only Illinois children’s hospital named to the Honor Roll, which recognizes children’s hospitals with exceptional performance in at least three specialties. Lurie Children’s has three specialties in the top 10, including Cardiology (No. 3), Urology (No. 5) and Gastroenterology (No. 8).