City of Hope has once again been named one of “America’s Best Hospitals” in two specialties by U.S.News & World Report. City of Hope ranked 22nd on this year’s list of top cancer hospitals and 36th on the list for urology.
The institution is the second-highest ranked hospital in the Los Angeles area and one of only seven centers in California to appear on the cancer list. In urology, City of Hope is one of seven hospitals in California, and one of only four in the Los Angeles area, to be ranked.
“We are very pleased to once again be ranked among the very best centers in the country for cancer and urology,” said Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president and chief executive officer. “To earn this national recognition for the sixth year is a fitting honor for our entire team of dedicated physicians, research scientists, nurses and employees who demonstrate every day the highest commitment to excellence and innovation in patient care.”
City of Hope’s status as home to the state’s largest prostate cancer program (according to data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) contributes to its high ranking in urology, administrators said. The institution also is a recognized leader in laparoscopic and robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostate surgeries. Since 2003, City of Hope physicians have performed more urologic oncology procedures than any single institution in the U.S., including more robotic-assisted prostatectomies and radical cystectomies than any other center in the West.
“We recognize that the most important part of our mission to cure cancer is to provide help to the patients who come to us. A patient is not just his or her disease, but an individual with a range of needs to be addressed outside of the cancer itself,” said Alexandra Levine, M.D., chief medical officer. “This honor reaffirms our patient-centered approach to medicine and the excellence that our patient care teams deliver on a regular basis to support the patient and his or her family clinically, as well as emotionally, psychologically and socially.”
U.S. News’ 2009 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals” features 174 medical centers selected from 4,861 hospitals nationwide in 16 specialty areas. U.S. News based its cancer hospital rankings on several criteria that include reputation among board-certified physicians, mortality rate, patient safety, the number of Medicare patients discharged, the ratio of nurses to patients, National Cancer Institute and nurse magnet hospital designations, the use of specific advanced technology and the availability of certain patient services.
Urology rankings were based on similar criteria including reputation, mortality rate, Medicare patient discharges, nursing ratio, nurse magnet hospital designation, the presence of an on-site trauma center, the use of advanced technology and the availability of patient services.
Complete rankings of the top hospitals are available online at www.usnews.com and appeared in the August issue of U.S. News.
