Ohio State added another achievement to its running tab when the Ohio State University Hospital was named among the top 100 hospitals in the nation.
Solucient Institute, a health care information company, released its 10th annual hospital rankings in October, listing the OSU Hospital among the nation’s best hospitals for the fifth consecutive year, said Kam Sigafoos, executive director of the OSU Hospital.
“We are very proud of this recognition,” Sigafoos said. “We love seeing this because it reflects the genuine commitment of the medical center to excel.”
The rankings were determined by each hospital’s 2001 data reports, which every hospital must file with Medicare annually. Sigafoos said Solucient Institute bases the rankings on several concrete criteria, such as the quality of clinical medicine, financial management and efficiency of operation within the fiscal year.
Solucient Institute evaluated 3,092 varying-sized hospitals in the United States, including 130 major teaching hospitals. OSU Hospital was one of 16 other major teaching hospitals that was awarded a spot in the ranking report, Sigafoos said.
Being named among the top institutes in the nation is a compliment to the OSU Hospital and speaks well of its desire to provide excellent service. The ranking report is not only significant to the hospital but also the community, Sigafoos said.
“(The ranking) is something the public uses to evaluate the quality of care,” she said. “And this is something insurance companies look at to refer to the quality of the facilities.”
Dr. Mark Notestine, assistant dean of OSU College of Medicine and Public Health, said because OSU Hospital was recognized among the elite hospitals, the university will see the benefits when recruiting potential medical students.
“Being named among the top 100 hospitals is not only important to me, but also prospective students because when students have to make that decision, they look at the reputation of the clinical environment,” Notestine said.
Notestine said OSU Hospital’s top 100 ranking is an accurate analysis of the institution because it provides assistance to both patients and medical students.
“OSU Hospital is always ranked within the top 100,” he said. “But we are not only the top hospital but also the top teaching hospital. There is a lot of clinical training that goes on through the hospital.”
Laura Adorni, a registered nurse in OSU Hospital’s trauma and orthopedic unit, is a product of OSU’s teaching and training process. She agreed that the recent recognition is deserved and said the continuance of education enables the hospital to provide the best quality of care.
“The teaching and training of students, as well as the ongoing research, all contributes to being ranked that high,” Adorni said.
The OSU Hospital is no stranger to the top-ranking list. The AARP named the OSU Medical Center as one of the best places in the country for workers over the age of 50 in September.
The U.S. News & World Report magazine listed the OSU Medical Center among the nation’s best hospitals in July. And OSU had six medical specialists named among the best in the country.
