Duke Rises in Ranking Among Best U.S. Hospitals

By Duke Medicine News and Communications

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University Hospital has not only been named as one of the top 10 U.S. hospitals in the annual U.S. News & World Report's best hospital edition for the 17th year in a row, but it also has risen in the rankings.

Duke's ranking rose to seventh this year from eighth in 2005. Duke Hospital ranked highly in 14 of the specialties measured, with top-10 rankings in 10 of them. Duke is the only hospital in North Carolina ranked in the top 10.

"Duke's consistent high rankings among the top 10 best hospitals in the nation year-in and year-out is a testament to the excellent quality of patient care, the dedication of our employees, nurses and doctors, and to the innovation of our medical center," said Victor Dzau, M.D., Duke University Chancellor of Health Affairs and President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. "We are proud to be included in this group of great U.S. medical institutions."

Many of Duke's specialties ranked among the top 10 in the nation. Those specialties are cancer, heart/heart surgery, gynecology, urology, ophthalmology, digestive/gastroenterology, kidney disease, respiratory disease/pulmonary, orthopedics, and psychiatry.

Several other specialties ranked among the top 20 in the country. Those specialties are rheumatology, neurology and neurosurgery, pediatrics, and endocrinology.

The U.S. News & World Report's rankings will appear in the July 17, 2006, issue of the magazine, which will arrive at the newsstands July10, 2006. This is 17th year that the magazine has compiled its annual rankings of America's top hospitals. This year's analysis was conducted by Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

All of the 14 medical centers named as the best this year had to demonstrate a breadth of excellence by achieving a high ranking in no fewer than six of the 15 specialties, according to the magazine.

The top 10 hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report's rankings were, respectively: Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, UCLA Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Duke, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, University of California-San Francisco and the University of Washington Medical Center.

For more information about the U.S. News & World Report rankings, visit www.usnews.com/besthospitals.

To learn how U.S. News & World Report chose the best hospitals, read "Methodology: What it means to be the best."