VCU news

By Eric Peters

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been ranked a No. 1 hospital in Virginia for the second year in a row by U.S.News & World Report and is recognized among the Best Hospitals in Central Virginia. It also is ranked No. 1 in the Richmond metro area.

The annual U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings, now in their 24th year, recognize hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients.

“We are ecstatic that the VCU Medical Center once again achieved this rank,” said Sheldon Retchin, M.D., CEO of the VCU Health System and senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences. “The level of clinical excellence and research at our academic medical center is unsurpassed, and we are very proud of the entire health care team.”

The VCU Medical Center saw two specialty areas rank in the top 50 this year, Nephrology at 41 and Orthopedics in the No. 39 spot.

U.S. News evaluates hospitals in 16 adult specialties. In most specialties, it ranks the nation’s top 50 hospitals and recognizes other high-performing hospitals that provide care at nearly the level of their nationally ranked peers.

“A hospital that emerges from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News Health Rankings Editor. “Only about 15 percent of hospitals are recognized for their high performance as among their region’s best. Just 3 percent of all hospitals earn a national ranking in any specialty.”

U.S. News publishes Best Hospitals to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age. Objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties.

“Being named as a Best Hospital in Virginia for the second year in a row is a wonderful affirmation of the hard work of our dedicated team of physicians and staff in advancing quality, safety, and service to all we serve,” said John Duval, CEO of MCV Hospitals. “We are proud of the team's accomplishments in serving all Virginians and in this special recognition of the efforts of the entire VCU team.”

The VCU Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is recognized as one of the most comprehensive and experienced programs in the country. Physicians and nurse managers help patients regain and maintain their active lifestyles and participation in their favorite sports, recreational activities and job tasks. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the orthopaedic team provides patients with the most appropriate and responsive treatment available.

The Division of Nephrology provides specialized care of patients with a variety of kidney disorders and hypertension. The medical center is among the nation’s most active and successful kidney-transplant hospitals, with one of the best patient and graft survival rates in the United States. The VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center, which serves adult and pediatric patients utilizing both living and deceased donors, has performed more than 3,000 kidney transplants, 14 pancreas transplants and 110 combined kidney-pancreas transplants. Additionally, the center performs liver, pancreatic islet and liver cell transplants.

Specialties recognized as high performing at the VCU Medical Center this year were: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; neurology and neurosurgery; pulmonology; and urology.

The specialty rankings and data were produced for U.S. News by RTI International, a leading research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Using the same data, U.S. News produced the state and metro rankings.

The rankings have been published at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals and will appear in print in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014 guidebook, available in bookstores and on newsstands Aug. 27.