Northwestern Ranks in Top 10 on U.S. News' 2014-2015 Honor Roll of "America's Best Hospitals"

CHICAGO, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Memorial HealthCare is pleased to announce that both Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Lake Forest Hospital continue to earn national recognition as part of the U.S. News & World Report ranking of America's Best Hospitals. Northwestern Memorial is 10^th in the nation on the exclusive, Best Hospitals 2014-15 Honor Roll—the third consecutive year on the Honor Roll and third year in a row ranking No. 1 in Illinois and Chicago. 

"Our hospitals are among the nation's best for two reasons: our Patients First mission that guides our decision making and our culture of excellence," said Dean M. Harrison, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare's president and CEO.  "We are grateful to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report and proud of our talented physicians, nurses and staff who have earned this recognition."

With an estimated 5,000 hospitals nationally, only a handful make the Honor Roll each year. The U.S. News "Best Hospitals" ranking recognizes hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients. The ranking evaluates hospitals within 16 adult specialties—Northwestern Memorial is ranked in all but two, and in nine categories ranks 15^th or higher.   Lake Forest Hospital also continues to be among the best hospitals in Illinois and Chicago, ranking 34^th and 29^th respectively, and being recognized as high performing in the areas of Orthopaedics and Gynecology. 

For the first time, earlier this year U.S. News evaluated medical training programs in addition to hospitals and medical schools.  We are pleased that McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University ranked as one of the most well-regarded postgraduate training programs in the country, one of only 10 programs to receive more than 200 nominations.  Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine ranked 18^th in the country.

For its hospital ranking, objective measures including patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties. Only about 3 percent of hospitals in the U.S. earned a national ranking in one or more specialties and only those ranking very highly in at least six specialties made the Honor Roll.  

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, which are published at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.   

To learn more about Northwestern Medicine or to schedule an appointment, please call 312-926-0779 or visit us online at www.northwesternmedicine.org.

SOURCE Northwestern Memorial HealthCare