Two Chicago hospitals — Northwestern Memorial and Rush University Medical Center — are again tied for best hospital in the state and rank among the top 20 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
This is the fourth time the two hospitals have held the No. 1 spot in the state together, after Northwestern topped the rankings alone for more than a decade.
“It’s really a recognition of the tremendous work our teams are doing every day and just the consistency of clinical excellence and quality through time,” said Dr. Paul Casey, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Rush University System for Health.
For Northwestern, “These results reflect the extraordinary dedication of our physicians, nurses and team members who work every day to deliver exceptional care for our patients and communities,” said Dr. Howard Chrisman, president and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, in a news release.
University of Chicago Medical Center placed third in the state. Tied for fourth are Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and Endeavor Health’s Glenview, Highland Park, Skokie and Evanston hospitals, as a group.
Chicago’s Shirley Ryan AbilityLab was again named as the No. 1 hospital for rehabilitation in the country — a distinction it’s held for more than three decades.
U.S. News releases its best hospital rankings annually, ranking more than 500 hospitals on data including death rates, preventable complications, patient experience and levels of nursing care. Hospitals — including those in the competitive Chicago-area healthcare market — pay close attention to the rankings, often highlighting them in their advertising to try to attract more patients.
U.S News is one of a number of organizations that rank and rate hospitals each year. Experts say rankings can be useful for patients trying to narrow down their options, but caution that they are just one factor to consider when deciding where to get care.
In addition to the topline rankings, U.S. News also ranks hospitals across a number of specialties.
Northwestern Memorial saw six of its programs rank among the top five in the country. Northwestern’s neurosurgery and neurology program ranked second in the nation. Ranking fourth best in the country were Northwestern’s gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, and pulmonary and lung surgery programs. Ranking fifth best in the country were Northwestern’s diabetes and endocrinology and obstetrics and gynecology programs.
In recent years, Northwestern’s lung surgery program has become known for innovation.
Northwestern’s Canning Thoracic Institute, which includes lung and chest care, has always had a mission to become “a destination of hope where patients from all over the world can come with not just problems that have existing solutions but for problems that don’t have solutions,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, executive director of the institute as well as chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine.
“We wanted to create an institute that has the team that would do their best to find those new solutions,” Bharat said.
U.S. News also recognized the 73 best regional hospitals in the country for community access, meaning they have a track record of providing high-quality care for underserved and vulnerable patients. In Illinois, five hospitals were recognized, including Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Advocate Trinity Hospital, University of Chicago Medical Center, Ascension Alexian Brothers in Elk Grove Village and Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
