Cleveland Clinic No. 1 in Heart Care for 17th Consecutive Year

No. 4 Overall in U.S.News & World Report's "2011-12 Best Hospitals"

For the 17th consecutive year, Cleveland Clinic's heart program has ranked as the best in the nation, earning the No. 1 ranking in U.S.News & World Report's "2011-12 Best Hospitals."

Overall, Cleveland Clinic again placed among the nation's best hospitals, ranking 4th in the country.  And for the second year in a row, the hospital's cancer program ranked in the Top 10 nationally, along with 12 other Cleveland Clinic specialties that earned Top 10 rankings.

The complete "2011-12 Best Hospitals" rankings for Cleveland Clinic are:

"The U.S.News rankings reaffirm that our commitment to quality care, innovation, teamwork, service and compassion is working," said Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, MD, President and CEO, Cleveland Clinic.  "It's an acknowledgment that our highly trained medical staff and employees remain dedicated to the health and wellbeing of our patients."

Among Cleveland Clinic's highly ranked programs, nine placed in the Top 5 and four – heart, gastroenterology, urology, and nephrology – placed among the Top 2.

Since 1994, no hospital in the country has ranked higher than Cleveland Clinic in cardiac care.

"We are humbly grateful for the recognition of being No. 1 for the 17th year in a row," said Bruce Lytle, MD, chairman, Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute.  "We believe this recognition is based on the collaboration of our caregivers, which results in innovation and excellence in patient care.  We are honored to be considered the best, but recognize the true honor comes from our patients' trust.  That honor drives us to continue to improve every day."

Cleveland Clinic's cancer care remained among the Top 10 in the nation for the second consecutive year.

"This year's rankings reflect the commitment that 250 top cancer specialists, researchers, nurses and technicians at the Taussig Cancer Institute have to delivering the most effective medical treatments and offering access to the latest clinical trials for more than 13,000 new cancer patients every year," said Brian J. Bolwell, MD, Interim Chairman of Cleveland Clinic's Taussig Cancer Institute.  "We share this recognition with the multidisciplinary teams across Cleveland Clinic who care for our patients facing cancer."

Nearly 5,000 hospitals were assessed by U.S.News, but only 140 scored high enough to be ranked in even one category.  Of those, just 17 -- including Cleveland Clinic -- qualified for the Honor Roll. Rankings are based on death rates, procedure volume, advanced technology, patient services, and the balance of nurses and patients, except in four specialties – ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and rheumatology – in which hospitals were ranked on reputation alone.

According to U.S.News, the Best Hospitals rankings are meant to help guide patients who need an especially high level of care because of a difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age.  "These are referral centers where other hospitals send their sickest patients," said Avery Comarow, U.S.News Health Rankings Editor.  "Hospitals like these are ones you or those close to you should consider when the stakes are high."

"2011-12 Best Hospitals" is available at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and in the Best Hospitals 2011-12 print guide published by U.S.News, available on newsstands August 30.

As part of the 2011-12 Best Hospital rankings, U.S.News also released its metropolitan-area rankings. In all, nine Cleveland Clinic health system hospitals ranked among the 17 best hospitals in the Greater Cleveland area, including five in the Top 10 – Cleveland Clinic (1), Fairview Hospital (4), Hillcrest Hospital (5), South Pointe Hospital (5), Huron Hospital (9), Euclid Hospital (12), Lakewood Hospital (12), Marymount Hospital (12), and Lutheran Hospital (16).  Cleveland Clinic Florida placed No. 2 in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area and ranked 19th nationally in gastroenterology.

In May, U.S.News released rankings for children's hospitals.  In that survey, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital earned national rankings in all 10 of its specialties and ranked higher in more specialties than any other children's hospital in northeast Ohio, including a No. 7 national ranking in neurology and neurosurgery.

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.  It was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation.  U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey.  About 2,100 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties.  In addition to its main campus, Cleveland Clinic operates nine regional hospitals and 15 Family Health Centers in Northeast Ohio, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and opening in 2012, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.  In 2009, there were more than 4.6 million visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 170,000 hospital admissions.  Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 100 countries.  Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org.