University Hospital Is One of America's Best Hospitals
No. 1 in San Antonio Region Four Years in a Row; No. 6 in Texas; Top 50 in the Nation for Kidney Disease
U.S. News & World Report today released the 25th edition of the annual Best Hospitals rankings, and University Health earned significant regional, state and national recognition. In the report, U.S. News names University Hospital best in San Antonio, No. 6 in Texas, and among the top 50 in the country for the care of patients with kidney disease.
The prestigious rankings recognize hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients. University Health is in elite company as one of just 3 percent of U.S. hospitals to earn a national Top 50 ranking in any specialty. The health system is also among the 13 percent of hospitals recognized as high-performing in their regions. For South Texas, University Health is recognized for excellence in the areas of cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gynecology, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.
“We are very pleased and honored to be included as one of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals for the fourth year in a row,” said George B. Hernández Jr., president/CEO of University Health. “The real accomplishment for us is awareness that success comes from always putting our patients first and offering them the latest and best care.”
University Health, owned by the people of Bexar County, is the primary teaching partner for the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.
“U.S. News strives to provide patients and their families with the most comprehensive data available on hospitals,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News health rankings editor. “With an estimated 400,000 deaths occurring in hospitals each year from medical errors, measuring safety performance is critical to understanding how well a hospital cares for its patients.”
U.S. News made several changes to the Best Hospitals rankings methodology this year, including adding new data and greater emphasis on patient safety. Patient safety metrics now account for 10 percent of each hospital’s overall score, in most specialties — twice as much as in past years. The role of hospital reputation, as determined through a national survey of medical specialists, diminished by 5 percentage points.
The research organization RTI International, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, conducted the physician survey and produced the Best Hospitals methodology and national rankings under contract with U.S. News. U.S. News produced the state and metro rankings.
The rankings are online at https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings and will appear in print in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2015 guidebook, available in bookstores and on newsstands August 26.
