UF Health Shands Hospital again ranked among elite by U.S. News

University of Florida Health Shands Hospital, a perennial leader in health care in Florida, was again recognized Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals survey for excellence in adult patient care, with five medical specialties ranked among the nation’s elite.

Combined with the four pediatric specialties ranked in the nation’s top 50 by U.S. News in June, UF Health Shands has nine specialties recognized.

“It takes an outstanding team of talented medical caregivers and staff to maintain the excellence of our health system,” said David R. Nelson, M.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “But we never forget that this sustained quality of care isn’t just measured in a thousand points of data. It’s also measured in the enormous difference we make in the lives of our patients.”

The adult hospital’s ear, nose and throat specialty ranked 30th in the United States, up 10 places from last year. Neurology and neurosurgery went from “high performing” last year to No. 30. High-performing specialties are ranked among the top 10% nationally.

Other ranked specialties are obstetrics and gynecology (No. 39), geriatrics (No. 42), and pulmonology and lung surgery (No. 43).

“I’m extremely proud of our College of Medicine faculty and staff for playing such an important part in the success of UF Health Shands,” said Colleen G. Koch, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., dean of the UF College of Medicine. “Their passion and dedication to medicine, and patient and family-centered care are at the heart of what makes a great health system. It’s our privilege to provide outstanding care to the patients we serve.”

Specialties that were rated “high performing” include cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, GI and GI surgery, orthopedics and urology.

UF Health Shands Hospital also had 16 procedures and conditions ranked as “high performing.” Those were abdominal aortic aneurysm repair; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; colon cancer surgery; diabetes; heart attack; heart failure; hip fracture; hip replacement; kidney failure; knee replacement; leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; lung cancer surgery; pneumonia; and prostate cancer surgery; stroke; and transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

U.S. News ranks about 5,000 hospitals nationally based on a range of measures, including patient outcomes such as survival and discharge to home; nurse staffing; the patient experience; expert opinion; and clinical services.

Among all the hospitals ranked, only 164 have one or more specialties placed in the nation’s top 50.

UF Health Shands has maintained a strong presence in the U.S. News rankings for more than a decade. Pulmonology and lung surgery, for example, has placed in the nation’s top 50 all but two years since 2005.

In June, UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital placed the specialties of diabetes and endocrinology (No. 10), pediatric pulmonology and lung surgery (No. 24), cardiology and heart surgery (No. 26) and neonatology (No. 35) among the nation’s elite programs.

“Patients have come to expect nothing but the best medical care from UF Health Shands Hospital, and our team works with great dedication and resolve to provide it,” said James J. Kelly Jr., interim CEO of UF Health Shands Hospital. “Our patients’ well-being will always be our guide.”

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