For twenty-one years, Johns Hopkins Hospital was ranked first on the annual U.S. News & World Report list of the nation’s best hospitals. But after more than two decades of coming out on top, maybe Hopkins started to get a little complacent. Or maybe U.S. News just wanted to shake things up. For whatever reason, though, last year Baltimore saw its flagship hospital drop (GASP!) to number two in the rankings, behind Boston’s Mass General, and leading to much soul-searching among the Hopkins medical community.
But fear not, dear readers — the world has been set right again, Boston is in its proper (subordinate) place, and Johns Hopkins Hospital is once again the best in the nation. “We’re very pleased about that, because we had quite a story going,” Ronald R. Peterson, president of Johns Hopkins Hospital, told The Baltimore Sun. Translation: Phew.
Not only was the hospital ranked best overall, but it also came in on top in five specialty areas: Ear, Nose and Throat; Geriatrics; Neurology and Neurosurgery; Rheumatology; and Urology. Hopkins made it into the top six in fifteen of the sixteen specialty areas that U.S. News ranked. (It didn’t make the top 10 for rehabilitation, but that list is made up of mostly specialized rehab facilities anyway.)
We’re glad to see that last year’s dreadful second place finish appears to be a blip, not a trend. And, hey, sometimes it’s nice to let someone else be front runner… briefly.
What about the other MD hospitals that made the list? Worth a mention? Like MedStar Union Memorial….
good point, JES — we’ll do a separate post on all the other great hospitals around town that made it into the rankings.