DUARTE, Calif., July 13, 2007--City of Hope has been named one of ”America’s Best Hospitals” in two specialties by U.S.News & World Report. City of Hope ranked 30th on this year’s list of top cancer hospitals and 29th on the list for urology. The institution is one of only five centers in California, and one of only two in the Los Angeles area, to appear on the cancer list; and is one of only six hospitals in California ranked in urology.
Complete rankings of the top hospitals are available online at www.usnews.com and will appear in the July 23 edition of U.S.News & World Report magazine, available on newsstands July 16.
“It is gratifying that the dedication of our health care professionals, researchers and staff is recognized on a national level by U.S.News & World Report,” said Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president and chief executive officer, City of Hope. “As we near our century mark of treating patients with serious conditions, our ranking among the country’s top hospitals for cancer and urology reaffirms our commitment to rapidly finding new and better treatments for patients battling cancer and other diseases.”
City of Hope is one of only 40 institutions in the nation to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). To earn this elite designation, a center must undergo a rigorous peer-review process, maintain a significant base of individually funded research projects and be heavily involved in community outreach, as well as meet other academic and public service requirements.
“Our designation as a top cancer and urology hospital was not earned solely by the advances in medical science that are discovered and developed at City of Hope, but also by the value we place on compassionate care,” said Alexandra Levine, M.D., chief medical officer of City of Hope. “We consider the needs of our patients in the full sense, and endeavor to provide excellence in all aspects of their treatment and care.”
“America’s Best Hospitals” features 173 medical centers selected from 5,462 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, the number of Medicare patient discharged, the ratio of nurses to patients, NCI and nurse magnet hospital designations, accreditation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, the use of specific advanced technology, the availability of certain patient services, and other factors. Urology rankings were based on similar criteria including reputation, mortality rate, Medicare patient discharges, nursing ratio, nurse magnet hospital designation, presence of an on-site trauma center, the use of advanced technology, the availability of patient services, and other factors.