It’s No. 1 for an 18th time for South Florida eye institute in Best Hospitals survey
U.S. News & World Report has been ranking the nation’s hospitals for 30 years.
For more than half of that three-decade endeavor, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami Health System has been judged the nation’s best in ophthalmology.
And so it goes again in U.S. News’ 2019-2020 “Best Hospitals” rankings: Bascom Palmer is at the top among 12 adult ophthalmology hospitals nationwide for the 18th time, a position it has dominated for well over a decade. Another eight hospitals were deemed “high performing” for adult eye care.
Cleveland Clinic in Weston also was honored as South Florida’s best hospital for the second year in a row, after chasing the top spot with Baptist Hospital in Miami-Dade in earlier years. Baptist held the No. 2 spot in the latest survey.
Ophthalmology’s best
Bascom Palmer, a research and educational facility, was the only ophthalmology hospital to make the list in that specialty in Florida.
Wills Eye Hospital at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia was No. 2. Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was No. 3. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stein and Doheny Eye Institutes at UCLA Medical Center rounded out the U.S. News Top 5 in the ophthalmology rankings.
“For more than five decades, we have been making life-changing discoveries in every field of ophthalmology, including innovative treatments for glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, optic nerve diseases, ocular oncology, and surgical procedures like removal of cataracts with intraocular lenses and surgery, correction of vision with Lasik, and retinal detachment repair,” Dr. Eduardo Alfonso, director of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, said in a statement.
According to the University of Miami Health System, Bascom Palmer treats more than 260,000 patients annually. The institute has patient care facilities in Miami, Coral Gables, Plantation, Palm Beach Gardens and Naples.
Faculty members also staff the Miami and West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, Jackson Memorial Hospital and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Other UM top rankings
UM also figured on a few other of U.S. News’ Best Hospitals’ charts.
The Department of Otolaryngology — ears, nose and throat — at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was ranked No. 9 in the U.S. — besting its No. 41 position in 2018 — and marking its first time in the Top 10.
“Our research and clinical programs have reached a critical mass, and our patient outcomes are outstanding,” said Dr. Fred F. Telischi, chairman of otolaryngology, in a statement.
The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, which announced Monday that it earned National Cancer Institute designation, plus gastroenterology and GI surgery, and neurology and neurosurgery programs at the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics were recognized as “high performing” by the publication.
“It is a remarkable accomplishment to have two UHealth programs ranked in the nation’s top 10, and three more recognized for their strong performance,” said Dr. Edward Abraham, executive vice president for health affairs and CEO of UHealth, in a statement. “These high rankings are a tribute to our professionals’ deep commitment to delivering the best possible clinical care to every one of our patients.”
Dr. Henri Ford, dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School of Medicine, said the top 10 rankings also reflect the academic medical system’s commitment to clinical research and medical education. “Our scientists and clinicians work closely to accelerate the process of bringing new discoveries and treatments to patients in our clinics and hospital,” he said.
U.S. News’ top regional hospitals
Miami-Dade and Broward’s Top 10 hospitals on the publication’s regional list of best hospitals were:
1. Cleveland Clinic Florida. This Weston general medical hospital also scored high enough to rank among Florida’s overall Top 5, behind AdventHealth in Orlando, University of Florida Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and Tampa General Hospital.
Cleveland rated high in gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonary and lung surgery and orthopedics.
“We are honored to be recognized by our peers for our commitment to high quality care and patient safety,” Dr. Wael Barsoum, CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic’s Florida region told the Sun Sentinel. “This recognition belongs to our outstanding team of caregivers who are dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for our patients.”
2. Baptist Hospital of Miami. The runner-up rated high in orthopedics, gastroenterology and GI surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonary and lung surgery and urology.
3. University of Miami Hospital and Clinics-UHealth Tower. Ear, nose and throat was highly rated, along with gastroenterology and GI surgery and neurology and neurosurgery.
4. Mount Sinai Medical Center. Rated high in gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics and neurology and neurosurgery.
5. Holy Cross Hospital-Fort Lauderdale. Rated high in orthopedics.
Rounding out the Top 10 locally:
6. Memorial Regional Hospital.
7. South Miami Hospital.
8. Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
9. Jackson Health System-Miami.
10. Broward Health Medical Center.
Methodology
U.S. News & World report arrived at its rankings by starting with 4,653 hospitals, which the publication says is a representation of “virtually all U.S. community inpatient facilities.”
VA and military hospitals are not considered and a hospital doesn’t have to be a teaching institution to be eligible.
There are 16 specialty areas.
In the 2019-20 rankings, a hospital qualified for consideration in the 12 data-driven specialties if it satisfied any of four criteria:
▪ It was a teaching hospital, or
▪ It was affiliated with a medical school, or
▪ It had at least 200 beds set up and staffed, or
▪ It had at least 100 beds and offered at least four out of eight advanced technologies associated with high-quality care, such as a PET/CT scanner and certain precision radiation therapies.
This year, 2,241 hospitals, just under half of the total number in the initial pool, met one of the four standards, the publication said.
For these 12 areas, ranking is determined mostly by data in fields including cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose & throat; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; and urology.
In the four specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — in which ranking was determined only through a physician survey, any hospital with enough nominations over the last three surveys was ranked. The ratings were based on “expert opinion, based on responses from three years of surveys of physician specialists,” U.S. News said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:48 PM.
