Chattanooga, Tenn. – For the third straight year, the Erlanger Health System has been named among “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report in the publication’s 2013-14 Top Hospitals edition.
Erlanger was named “Best Hospital by Metro Area,” and ranked one of the top eight hospitals in Tennessee. Erlanger was also the only local hospital to be recognized for the high performing specialties of diabetes and endocrinology, pulmonology and nephrology.
The report also recognizes Dr. Louis Lambiase, Professor and Associate Dean with the UT College of Medicine and physician with Erlanger’s Academic Gastroenterology practice, as among the top 1% of gastroenterologists in the nation. Before his arrival at Erlanger in 2009, Dr. Lambiase served as Chief of Gastroenterology at University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida.
“As the region’s only academic teaching hospital and Level One Trauma Center, we are extremely pleased to have earned this national recognition from U.S. News & World Report for the third straight year,” said Erlanger President and CEO Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE. “It’s a notable tribute to Erlanger’s capabilities and service to the region; we practice what we teach.”
In making the announcement, U.S. News & World Report rankings editor Avery Comarow said, “The mission of ‘Best Hospitals’ is to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face a particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age.”
The 24th edition of U.S. News and World Report showcases the best of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals. Methodology for rating hospitals includes data that is publicly available and less subjective, such as information collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS Hospital Compare).
According to publication officials, the methodology “gives hospitals with solid clinical data more opportunity to show consumers how well they perform, and hospital reputation still counts.”
Other criteria used in the U.S. News & World Report ratings include patient survival, infection rates, patient safety measures, nurse-to-patient ratios and responses from medical specialists to opinion surveys. Highlights of the newest rankings will appear in U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014 guidebook, to go on sale in August. Complete rankings and methodology are available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.
About Erlanger Health System
The Erlanger Health System has five Tennessee-based medical campuses, including the region’s only children’s hospital and Level 1 Trauma Center, providing the highest level of trauma care. Affiliated with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga, Erlanger is also the region’s only academic teaching center and treats more than a quarter million patients every year.
