MUSC ranked state’s No. 1 hospital fifth year in row

U.S. News & World Report releases annual national rankings

CHARLESTON, S.C. (July 30, 2019) – MUSC Health was named by U.S. News & World Report for the fifth year in a row as the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina, with three of MUSC Health’s specialty areas ranking among the best in the entire country: rheumatology; ear, nose and throat; and cancer. Four other MUSC Health programs are considered “high performing” in the 2019-2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings: nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics and urology.

“For five years in a row now, MUSC Health has been recognized for the high quality care and tremendous value that we provide our state,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO and MUSC vice president for Health Affairs, University. “Our industry has a lot going on within it right now, so this achievement demonstrates not just our commitment to putting our patients and their families first, but a real and enduring commitment to changing what’s possible in how we deliver care through innovation, transformation and growth.”

Designed to help patients with life-threatening or rare conditions identify hospitals that excel in treating the most difficult cases, Best Hospitals 2019-20includes consumer-friendly data and information on 4,500 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. In the 16 specialty areas, 165 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty. In rankings by state and metro area, U.S. News & World Report recognized hospitals as high performing across multiple areas of care.

“We’re looking at things differently. We’re tearing down barriers to care, successfully training the health care leaders of tomorrow and integrating our research discoveries in real time whenever possible. The citizens of our state can take great pride and comfort in the knowledge that their only public statewide hospital system is consistently cited as one of the best in the country,” Cawley said.

The U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals methodologies, in most areas of care, are based largely or entirely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators.

“For 30 years, U.S. News has strived to make hospital quality more transparent to healthcare consumers nationwide,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News & World Report. “By providing the most comprehensive data available on nearly every hospital across the United States, we give patients, families and physicians information to support their search for the best care across a range of procedures, conditions and specialties.”

U. S. News & World Report’s produced Best Hospitals with RTI International, a leading research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

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About MUSC Health

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available, while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan, and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2019, for the fifth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina.

Founded in 1824, MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.