So @JBStillFlying - what do you see is the reason here? What have other institutions done differently - in really the past 9 years (UChicago was ranked in the top 20 nationally as recently as 2008 or 2009, I believe) - that Chicago has not done?
What you’re saying makes sense over a longer time frame or if you look at certain specialties/areas. In Chicago’s case, however, almost every specialty has fallen precipitously over the past 5-10 years. Neuro, diabetes, gastro, etc. etc…
Further, what’s surprising is that the hospital rankings from 2003 to 2017 are remarkably consistent - the 2003 ranking had most of the same hospitals as the 2017 rankings. Moreover, schools that have fallen off the 2003 ranking (like Vanderbilt - a smaller medical system) are still quite close to where they were 12-15 years ago. So in 2003, Vandy was ranked at the bottom of the top 20, with 8 or 9 specialties with national standing, and in 2017, they had 7 specialties in national standing - not much of a difference.
Chicago went from having 10 or 11 specialties with national standing to 3 in a period of about 10 years. No other school I can see - big or small - endured such a loss. Further, smaller systems that did well 10 years ago (like Vandy) are still doing well now (they’re still #1 in TN, and are probably in the top 20-25 hospital systems in the country, a small drop of 3 places over 10 years).