UT Southwestern among top 25 in nation in eight specialties ranked by U.S. News ‘Best Hospitals’
Clements University Hospital No. 1 in DFW for fifth consecutive year
DALLAS – July 26, 2021 – UT Southwestern Medical Center ranks among the top 25 hospitals nationally in eight specialties ranging from brain to heart to cancer care, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals report.
UT Southwestern once again is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth – the nation’s fourth-largest metro area – among 132 regional hospitals and second in Texas among 566 hospitals for the fifth consecutive year. UT Southwestern also has the top ranked programs in Texas for cardiology and heart surgery, and neurology and neurosurgery. The recognition comes several months after UT Southwestern completed expansion of its William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.
Over the past year, UT Southwestern also has received national recognition for patient satisfaction, patient safety, and quality of care from several reviewing bodies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Leapfrog, Healthgrades, and Press Ganey.
“Delivery of the best possible care to patients – reflected in independent measures such as these rankings – is critical in the challenging health care environment in which we find ourselves today,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern. “The ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19 underscore the true value of building our clinical care on the sturdy foundation of robust basic and translational research, and top academic programs that attract strong trainees who can help drive clinical improvement.”
UT Southwestern’s nationally ranked specialties from nearly 5,000 hospitals across the country include:
- #11 Cardiology and Heart Surgery
- #17 Rehabilitation
- #17 Urology
- #19 Neurology and Neurosurgery
- #22 Pulmonology and Lung Surgery
- #23 Geriatrics
- #24 Diabetes and Endocrinology
- #24 Cancer
- #35 Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
UT Southwestern was rated nationally as high performing for orthopedics, placing that specialty among the top 10 percent of all rated hospitals, and was nationally rated for its expertise in 14 procedures and conditions – abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, back surgery (spinal fusion), COPD, colon cancer surgery, diabetes, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip fracture, kidney failure, lung cancer surgery, pneumonia, and stroke.
Children’s Medical Center Dallas, where UT Southwestern Pediatric Group faculty practice, was rated among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News for 2021-2022, and is the only pediatric hospital in North Texas ranked in all 10 specialties.
Clements University Hospital previously received national distinction for its high patient satisfaction scores, its quality and safety efforts, and its innovative design. UT Southwestern is listed among top 5 percent of hospitals nationally for consistent delivery of clinical quality, and among top hospitals for patient experience and routine specialty care in areas including cardiovascular, gastroenterology, orthopedic, and neurosurgical care. Organizations also rate UTSW high for patient satisfaction efforts such as physician and nurse communications, medication and hospital discharge instructions, and hospital cleanliness and quietness.
“The recognition reflects a commitment to service excellence that resonates across our health system and is shared by our physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, trainees, and vital supporting staff,” said John Warner, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs at UT Southwestern. “By working together, our multidisciplinary teams advance the quality of care and outcomes we are able to achieve for our patients and their families.”
The 12-story, three-tower Clements University Hospital, along with recent expansions of its brain, cancer, and radiation oncology care, and its outpatient clinical space means the health system is ideally positioned to continue to meet Texas’ burgeoning health care needs. The recent hospital expansion prepared UT Southwestern for referrals from continued growth of the Southwestern Health Resources network, a partnership with Texas Health Resources to better integrate delivery of care across North Texas. The network encompasses four of the top six rated hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In addition to UT Southwestern’s No. 1 ranked hospital, the Southwestern Health Resources network includes Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, ranked No. 3 in DFW; Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, tied for No. 4; and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth, No. 6 in DFW.
In other institutional measures, UT Southwestern rates No. 1 among global health care institutions in the 2021 Nature Index for its published research, UT Southwestern Medical School rates nationally among “Best Graduate Schools,” and the medical center has nationally rated programs in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the region – one of 51 in the nation, placing it among the top 4 percent of the approximately 1,500 cancer centers in the United States. UT Southwestern is designated an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, and has one of the nation's leading epilepsy clinics – a Level 4 center, the highest possible level by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers – part of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 16 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 117,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 3 million outpatient visits a year.