UF Health Neuromedicine climbed 19 spots from last year to 21st in the country, according to the 2016-2017 U.S. News & World Report adult specialty rankings of the nation’s hospitals.
The rankings, announced Aug. 2, placed UF Health Neuromedicine as the highest-ranked neuromedicine program in the state and among the top two in the Southeast.
U.S. News & World Report assessed 16 adult medical specialties ranging from cancer to urology in approximately 5,000 hospitals. The new rankings put UF Health Neuromedicine among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide who provide neurosurgical and neurological care.
William A. Friedman, M.D., chair of the UF department of neurosurgery, said there are several factors that influenced the program’s jump this year, the largest year-over-year jump at UF Health in the last decade.
“This improved ranking reflects sustained clinical excellence, devotion on the part of the hospital and the academic departments to improve patient quality and safety, and a dramatic improvement in our research capability with many new first-in-human treatment protocols now being developed here,” Friedman said.
Michael S. Okun, M.D., chair of the UF department of neurology, said the increase in ranking was made possible by collaboration with colleagues in neurosurgery, partners in the neuromedicine quality initiative, faculty, staff, fellows, students and residents who work together as a team every day.
“We are all actively engaged in the process of building the perfect patient experience in anticipation for a November 2017 opening of the new, free-standing UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital,” Okun said. “This recent ranking is reflective of the power of togetherness as we strive for excellence in clinical care, research, education and outreach.”
This year’s UF Health ranked specialties are as follows: nephrology, (tied for 11th), pulmonology (25th), gynecology (29th), geriatrics (33rd), urology (42nd), diabetes and endocrinology (tied for 48th) and cancer (49th).
The new hospital rankings and methodology are available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals. To learn more about UF Health Neuromedicine, visit http://UFHealth.org/neuromedicine.