<p>University of Florida/Shands ranks among the nation’s top health care facilities in seven specialties, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 list of America’s best hospitals.</p>
<p>The magazine considered 5,462 hospitals in assembling this year’s list, and only 173 met the standards to be ranked as a “center of excellence.” </p>
<p>Shands at UF ranked among the top 50 hospitals in seven specialties, earning its highest ranking at No. 20 for its treatment of respiratory disorders. </p>
<p>The new rankings reflect a climb from last year, when only four Shands specialties were recognized, with neurology and neurosurgery ranked highest at No. 30.</p>
<p>Dr. Veena Antony, professor of pulmonary medicine and chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine in UF’s College of Medicine, said Monday the program is honored to be ranked. But Antony also noted that the rankings are based in part on measurable, scientific data and in part on how a medical center and its programs are perceived.</p>
<p>“I look upon this as a bonus,” she said. “We have the same services available that we had yesterday, but we’re very pleased to be ranked where we are today.”</p>
<p>Other specialties at Shands at UF that made the listings are ear, nose and throat; geriatrics; urology; heart; kidney disease and gynecology. </p>
<p>This is the 18th year the news magazine has ranked what it considers to be the best of the best in health care, and the editors looked at 16 different specialties. </p>
<p>The 173 hospitals that were ranked are either affiliated with a medical school, members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, or if they are not, have available a number of advanced services, such as image-guided radiation therapy or robotic surgery. </p>
<p>Most that appear in the listings are referral centers, places that are accustomed to seeing the toughest patients and conducting cutting-edge research. Military and veterans hospitals were not considered for the rankings, because the federal government does not report the necessary data, according to U.S. News editors.</p>
<p>Other Florida hospitals that were ranked in the top 50 in one or more specialties were Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Sarasota Memorial, Tampa General, Jackson Memorial at the University of Miami, Florida Hospital in Orlando and Mount Sinai in Miami Beach.</p>
<p>Pediatric hospitals will be ranked separately in the Sept. 3 issue of the magazine.</p>
<p>In scoring the hospitals, the magazine took into consideration the facility’s reputation among board-certified specialists a subjective assessment along with how well the hospital did at keeping its patients alive (the mortality index) and other care-related factors such as patient volume, patient-to-nurse ratio and availability of advanced technology.</p>
<p>Avery Comarow of U.S. News & World Report comments that when someone is confronted with a complex medical condition, “selecting a hospital with a solid track record could be nothing less than lifesaving.”</p>
<p>Antony urges potential patients to ask tough questions about any hospital or program they are considering, including how many of a particular procedure are done each year and how comfortable the physicians are with doing them.</p>
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