WVU Hospitals repeats as #1 in West Virginia

U.S. News again recognizes 12 specialties as high performing

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU Hospitals has been ranked the top hospital in West Virginia once again by “U.S. News & World Report.” The national magazine today released its annual Best Hospitals rankings, listing WVUH as high-performing in 12 medical specialties.

In addition to the state ranking, WVU Hospitals was recognized as a Best Regional Hospital and high-performing in cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopaedics; pulmonology; and urology. WVUH received the same rankings last year.

Nearly 30,000 patients from throughout the state and the surrounding area are cared for each year at WVU Hospitals’ Ruby Memorial. WVU Hospitals is part of WVU Healthcare, the entity that is comprised of the teaching hospitals and clinics for West Virginia University’s health professions schools. It includes a Level I Trauma Center, WVU Children’s Hospital and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. WVU Hospitals is a member of the West Virginia United Health System.

“Our mission at WVU Healthcare is to improve the health of all West Virginians through excellence in patient care, education and research. This recognition is also a testament to the quality and expertise of the 7,000 professionals at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Bruce McClymonds, president and CEO of WVU Hospitals, said. “We are honored by this recognition and are committed to continuing to enhance our ability to provide the best and highest quality patient care to all.”  

The annual U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings, now in their 24th year, recognize hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients. U.S. News publishes the list to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition or added risk because of other health problems or age. Objective measures, such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely, determined the rankings in most specialties.

“A hospital that emerges from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News Health Rankings Editor. “Only about 15 percent of hospitals are recognized for their high performance as among their region’s best.”

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. Using the same data, U.S. News produced the state and metro rankings.

The rankings have been published at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals and will appear in print in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2014” guidebook, available in bookstores and on newsstands August 27.