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THE U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT'S annual list of top hospitals was published in July. Most of the institutions it cites are referral centers, where the sickest patients are sent for cutting-edge practice. These hospitals follow-and often pioneer-new treatment guidelines, conduct bench-to-bedside research, and exploit the latest advances in imaging, surgical devices, and other technologies.

 

A hospital's overall performance is summed up by its U.S. News score, which is made up of three equal parts: reputation, mortality, and a mix of care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. Here's the list of top hospitals for treating heart disease, ranked from 1 to 50, based on their scores (#51 previously was among the top 50 and still is considered part of the list). Shown below are the facilities, the relative ratio of nurses to patients (higher is better), and each facility's Web site. Facilities shown in red are Magnet hospitals, having met the standards for excellence set by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

 

A study published in Circulation's August 8, 2006, issue asserts that hundreds of hospitals across the country offer excellent cardiac care that measures up to or exceeds the care provided in the facilities listed here. For details, see "Performance of Top-Ranked Heart Care Hospitals on Evidence-Based Process Measures" at http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/114/6/558.

 

Note: Rankings have been revised from the version published in the printed issue of U.S. News because of a data-processing error.

 

1. Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio (1.5) http://www.clevelandclinic.org

 

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (2.8) http://www.mayoclinic.org

 

3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md. (2.3) http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

 

4. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. (1.9) http://www.massgeneral.org

 

5. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass. (2.3) http://www.brighamandwomens.org

 

6. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital-Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Tex. (1.7) http://www.sleh.com

 

7. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. (1.8) http://medschool.duke.edu

 

8. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, New York, N.Y. (1.4) http://www.nyp.org

 

9. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (2.2) http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu

 

10. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. (1.7) http://www.barnesjewish.org

 

11. Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, Calif. (1.6) http://www.stanfordhospital.com/default

 

12. William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich. (1.8) http://www.beaumonthospitals.com

 

13. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. (1.7) http://www.med.upenn.edu

 

14. University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala. (2.0) http://www.health.uab.edu

 

15. Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Ga. (1.8) http://www.emoryhealthcare.org

 

16. University Medical Center, Tucson, Ariz. (2.1) http://www.umcarizona.org

 

17. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (1.6) http://www.cedars-sinai.edu

 

18. Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C. (1.5) http://www.whcenter.org

 

19. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif. (2.3) http://www.ucsfhealth.org

 

20. Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix, Ariz. (2.0) http://www.bannerhealth.com

 

21. Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio (1.7) http://www.health-alliance.com

 

22. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health System, Ann Arbor, Mich. (2.4) http://www.med.umich.edu

 

23. Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pa. (2.0) http://www.lvhhn.org

 

24. Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota, Fla. (1.6) http://www.smh.com

 

25. Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Va. (1.7) http://www.inova.com/ifh

 

26. F.G. McGaw Hospital at Loyola University, Maywood, Ill. (2.0) http://www.luhs.org/index.cfm

 

27. Sentara Norfolk General Hospital-Sentara Heart Hospital, Norfolk, Va. (1.6) http://www.sentara.com/sentara

 

28. Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn. (2.5) http://www.ynhh.org

 

29. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. (2.0) http://www.rush.edu

 

30. Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio (1.5) http://www.akrongeneral.org

 

31. Mercy Hospital Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa (1.8) http://www.mercydesmoines.org

 

32. Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio (1.8) http://www.summahealth.org

 

33. University Health System, San Antonio, Tex. (1.4) http://www.universityhealthsystem.com

 

34. University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio (1.4) http://www.uhhs.com

 

35. Jewish Hospital, Louisville, Ky. (1.4) http://www.jewishhospital.org

 

36. Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, Calif. (1.8) http://www.scrippshealth.org

 

37. Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich. (1.7) http://www.henryfordhealth.org

 

38. University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minn. (1.8) http://www.fairview.org

 

39. Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. (1.5) http://pennhealth.com/pahosp

 

40. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, Minn. (1.7) http://www.allina.com/ahs/home.nsf

 

41. Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. (1.5) http://www.advocatehealth.com

 

42. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Mass. (1.6) http://www.bidmc.harvard.edu/sites/bidmc/home.asp

 

43. Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, N.J. (2.0) http://www.humed.com

 

44. Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Tex. (1.7) http://www.baylorhealth.com

 

45. University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Ill. (2.3) http://www.uchospitals.edu

 

46. Riverside Methodist Hospital-Ohio Health, Columbus, Ohio (1.4) http://www.ohiohealth.com

 

47. St. Vincent's Medical Center, Jacksonville, Fla. (1.1) http://www.jaxhealth.com

 

48. Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, W.Va. (1.9) http://www.camc.org

 

49. University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Va. (2.0) http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu

 

50. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. (1.9) http://www.upmc.com

 

51. Hamot Medical Center, Erie, Pa. (1.9) http://www.hamot.org

 

 

Source: U.S. News & World Report, July 11, 2006 (updated online July 13, 2006); http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqcard.htm.