Report Ranks 7 UVa Specialties

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Report Ranks 7 UVa Specialties

By Sarah Barry / Daily Progress staff writer

July 15, 2005

Seven departments at the University of Virginia Medical Center are ranked this year as being among the top 50 in their field by U.S. News & World Report.

Only 176 of the nation's 6,007 medical centers scored high enough to rank in a single category, much less seven. "We're really pleased that we have seven specialties in the survey," said Dr. Jonathon Truwit, the senior associate dean of clinical affairs. "It puts us in an elite class."

The departments listed among America's best are: hormonal disorders at No. 6, ear nose and throat at No. 20, urology at No. 22, cancer at No. 32, gynecology at No. 34, digestive disorders at No. 37, and neurology and neurosurgery at No. 48.

The criteria for the rankings include reputation, death rate and quality of patient care. The reputation of a medical center is determined by a random sample of physicians belonging to the American Medical Association. As Dr. Michael Thorner explains, scoring well in the reputation index is a "reflection of the strength of the research operation that is going on here."

Thorner is particularly proud of the high rank endocrinology, or "hormonal disorders," received. For the last 10 years, endocrinology has been named as one of the top 15 departments. "I take some pride in it," Thorner said, having served as the head of the endocrine department from 1986 until 1998. "It's a team effort," he said. "There are lots of very wonderful people."

For the past nine years, the number of UVa departments ranked in the survey has fluctuated between seven and 11. Last year, the medical center had nine departments listed, including the seven departments from this year, along with kidney disease and orthopedics.

Truwit explains that because of the fierceness of the competition and the high caliber of all of the institutions, it is not surprising to see some fluctuation from year to year. "The second half of the top 50 are very tightly grouped," Truwit said. "Everyone is neck and neck at that point."

Two other Virginia hospitals were ranked in the survey: Inova Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia has six departments listed and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has two.

Peter Jump, spokesperson for the UVa Medical Center, said, "We're proud we have more specialties ranked than any other hospital in Virginia." The 16th annual survey of "America's Best Hospitals" is available online but has not yet hit the newsstands. It will be appear in the Monday issue of U.S. News & World Report.

From: http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783855362&path=!news

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

Thanx, Marie. :)

I had my cardiac ablation done there a few mos. ago, and I must say, the quality of care was excellent.

My dd's therapist just today recommended UVA to my dd for her as of yet undiagnosed GI pain/disorder. She said they were tops and would get to the bottom of it pronto ! Might have to follow through... two years of unrelenting abdominal pain is enough already ! Can't bear to watch her suffer so.