National Jewish Named Top Respiratory Hospital for Seventh Time

JULY 14, 2004

DENVER — For the seventh consecutive year, National Jewish Medical and Research Center has been named the #1 respiratory hospital in the nation by U.S.News & World Report. The ranking is part of the 2004 "America's Best Hospitals" guide published by the weekly newsmagazine. As part of the ranking, hundreds of board-certified pulmonologists around the country mentioned National Jewish more often than any other hospital when asked to name the best respiratory hospitals in the nation.

 

"We are delighted that U.S.News & World Report and the board-certified pulmonologists it consults continue to recognize the excellent care we provide for our respiratory patients," said Lynn M. Taussig, MD, CEO and President of National Jewish.

National Jewish is the only medical and research center in the United States devoted entirely to respiratory, allergic and immune system diseases, including asthma, tuberculosis, emphysema, severe allergies, lupus and other autoimmune diseases. National Jewish physician/researchers participate in numerous National Institutes of Health studies that evaluate new and existing treatments for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. They also serve on several NIH advisory boards that write guidelines for treatment of those diseases.

The magazine ranked hospitals' respiratory programs based on their reputations among board-certified pulmonologists, mortality rates, and care-related factors, such as nursing and patient services. National Jewish had the highest reputational score among all the respiratory hospitals evaluated. Allergy and immunology programs are not ranked by the newsmagazine.

The hospital rankings appear in the July 12, 2004, edition of U.S.News & World Report, which hits newsstands July 5. The rankings are also available on the website, www.usnews.com.

National Jewish's basic research programs were also recently ranked among the best in the world. Thomson ISI regularly evaluates the impact of scientific journal papers published by an institution's researchers. The impact of a specific paper is measured by the number of times it is cited by other researchers in their papers. In rankings released this spring National Jewish ranked twelfth, fifteenth and twenty-second respectively in molecular biology and genetics, biology and biochemistry, and immunology among thousands of academic and commercial institutions around the world, including large pharmaceutical companies.

"Basic research provides insights that can lead to improved patient care," said Dr. Taussig. "We are proud that we can contribute not only to the care of our patients today but also to discoveries that will help them in the future."