VCU Medical Center ranked No. 1 in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report

By Carissa Etters
University Public Affairs
804-828-7823
cdetters@vcu.edu

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been recognized as the No. 1 hospital in Virginia and the Richmond metro area in U.S. News & World Report’s newest Best Hospitals rankings. VCU Medical Center also ranks in the top 50 in the country for orthopedics at No. 34, nephrology at 48, and cardiology and heart surgery in the 49th spot.

“As central Virginia’s only comprehensive academic medical center and largest safety net provider, we provide care for the most complex patients,” said John Duval, vice president for clinical services, and CEO, VCU Hospitals. “This special recognition is a reflection of the hard work and compassionate care our team of physicians, nurses and staff provides to all we serve. The Best Hospitals rankings are a wonderful affirmation of our commitment to achieve high reliability through advancing quality, safety and service in academic medicine.”

For 2015-16, U.S. News evaluated hospitals in 16 adult specialties and ranked the top 50 in most of the specialties. Less than 3 percent of the nearly 5,000 hospitals analyzed for Best Hospitals were nationally ranked in even one specialty.

In rankings by state and metro area, U.S. News recognized hospitals that perform nearly at the level of their nationally ranked peers in one or more specialties, as well as hospitals that excel in multiple common procedures and conditions.

“Being an academic medical center means providing the highest level of safe, quality care through research, technology and education,” said Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU and the VCU Health System. “While modern health care faces enormous challenges, this recognition is an indication that VCU Medical Center delivers on its mission each and every day, regardless of the changing climate. I am very proud of the entire team at the medical center.”

“VCU Medical Center delivers exceptional clinical care.  We are a leader in safety, quality, and innovative research” said Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., interim vice president, VCU Health Sciences. “It is a privilege to be included on this prestigious list. More importantly, this recognition validates our quest for excellence across the full spectrum of care.”

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. U.S. News used the same data, as well as the new Best Hospitals for Common Care ratings, first published in May, to produce the state and metro rankings.

The rankings are freely available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals and will appear in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2016” guidebook, available in August from the U.S. News Store.

Featured image up top : The VCU Medical Center’s LifeEvac program has been serving the metro Richmond region for more than 10 years. Photo by Allen Jones

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center

Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 226 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-seven of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University comprise VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.