Two Chicago hospitals now rank among the top 20 nationwide

A second Chicago hospital -- Rush University Medical Center -- has cracked U.S. News & World Report’s list of the top 20 hospitals in the country, joining Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Northwestern earned the top spot in the state for the ninth consecutive year, and 10th in the nation for the second year. Rush ranked as the second best hospital in the state and 17th in the country.

Other hospitals that ranked highly in Illinois but did not make the national list include University of Chicago Medical Center, which was named third best in the state; Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, which ranked fourth; and Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, which took the No. 5 spot.

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Streeterville again ranked as the top hospital for rehabilitation in the country, for the 30th consecutive time.

Many hospitals in the competitive Chicago-area market pay close attention to rankings, advertising high marks in hopes of attracting more patients. Those rankings could be especially important this year as hospitals across the state and country work to financially recover from COVID-19, which led to cancellations of elective surgeries and fewer non-COVID-19 patients. Many area hospitals have furloughed staff or instituted pay cuts to deal with the revenue losses.

But experts say a hospital’s overall ranking shouldn’t be the only factor a patient uses to choose a hospital. A number of organizations rank and grade hospitals each year using different methodologies that can produce different results. A person who needs surgery might want to look at how a hospital ranks in that procedure or specialty, consider advice from a doctor and look at which hospitals are in-network with his health insurance.

U.S. News ranked hospitals on factors including survival and readmission rates, patient experience, patient safety and nurse staffing. Most of the data is from Medicare. U.S. News also ranked hospitals in 16 specialties, including cardiology and heart surgery, orthopedics and cancer.

Dean Harrison, president and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, in a news release called the high ranking a “reflection of a shared commitment to excellence.”

Northwestern was among the hospitals that made cuts in recent months, including reducing pay for senior management by up to 20%, according to a statement from the hospital Monday.

“We have chosen to reduce specific expenses that impact all staff, but are proportional to position and wage to preserves jobs and to prevent any impact on our ability to deliver high-quality, compassionate care,” Northwestern said in a statement.

Rush moved up in the rankings this year thanks to a “consistent dedication to quality and outcomes,” said Dr. Omar Lateef, president and CEO of Rush University Medical Center. Hospitals that help the sickest patients recover also seem to do better in certain U.S. News categories, he said.

The University of Chicago Medical Center fell to third place in the state this year, from second place last year. Dr. Stephen Weber, chief medical officer, called the slight drop “disappointing.”

“We’re always going to be subject to the foibles of the methodology, but I think folks in Chicago and the region are fortunate that they have three top performing centers,” Weber said.

He said University of Chicago has continued to rank highly because of the high quality of care it provides as well as improvements to how it documents care and the complexities of patients’ conditions, which can play a role in how well a hospital performs in the rankings.

Rush and University of Chicago Medical Center also instituted cuts in recent months. Rush announced plans to withhold raises this year, ask executives to take pay cuts and suspend incentive pay, awards and bonuses for executives, faculty and providers, though Lateef said Rush hopes to reverse the cuts for workers.

University of Chicago Medical Center is furloughing and/or temporarily reducing hours for employees in nonclinical roles, through the use of vacation and personal time. The hospital also said it’s suspending merit pay increases this fiscal year, along with incentive compensation for all executives and directors.

The rankings are based on data from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some question how it will be possible, in the future, to rank hospitals that had to quickly transform this year to battle COVID-19.

“I think there is something a little uncomfortable about ranking hospitals in this circumstance and this situation,” said Weber, with the University of Chicago. He likened the idea to ranking New York City fire companies after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

“We want to be seen as collaborators not competitors even with the realities of the market,” Weber said. “I would hate to think an institution that invested and took care of a large number of COVID patients in the future will pay the price in their ranking.”

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