There are 5,723 registered hospitals in the United States, according to the American Hospital Association. Being better than 5,721 of them is pretty impressive–but for Johns Hopkins Hospital, which was ranked by U.S. News as the top hospital in the country for more than two decades, third place is basically synonymous with “LOSER.”
“Looking at this list of Honor Roll hospitals, to say we are in good company is an understatement,” Dr. Paul B. Rothman, dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said, according to the Hopkins Hub. “All of these are exemplary institutions, and we send our sincere congratulations to our colleagues at Mayo Clinic, which is ranked No. 1 in the national rankings this year.” Can’t you almost hear his teeth grating when he mentions the Mayo Clinic? In second place this year is Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. If either of those revered institutions finds itself plagued with a mysterious stink bug infestation, or suddenly starts getting lots of prank calls, my first suspect would be the JHH administration.
The Hopkins Hub website put a happy face on the situation, noting in its headline that the hospital was at least ranked as number one in Maryland, as well as being top-ranked in Baltimore for every specialty.
