4 Hospitals In North Carolina Among Nation’s Greatest

CHARLOTTE, NC — A new report says four hospitals in North Carolina are among the greatest in the nation. Becker’s Healthcare, which publishes business and legal information for the healthcare industry, released its annual “100 great hospitals in America” list Wednesday.

Below are the four North Carolina hospitals that made the list:

• Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte.

Says the report: “Carolinas Medical Center — home to a trauma center, neonatology ICU and pediatric ICU — is the flagship teaching facility of the 40-hospital Carolinas HealthCare System, which recently rebranded as Atrium Health to reflect its growing regional footprint. Atrium Health planned to expand this footprint to 50 hospitals through a merger with Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care; however, this deal was called off in March. Carolinas Medical Center remains a partner of UNC, providing clinical education for students enrolled in its medical school as the UNC School of Medicine-Charlotte Campus. Carolinas Medical Center supports a clinical staff of 1,100 physicians and providers as well as 200 training residency spots in a variety of specialties.”

• Duke University Hospital, Durham.

Says the report: “Duke University Hospital opened its doors to patients in 1930 and launched the nation's first brain tumor program in 1937. The hospital also established the first clinical nursing specialist program in 1958 and the first physician assistant program in 1965 to address a national shortage of primary care physicians. Today, Duke University Health System staffs about 17,520 full-time employees. In fiscal year 2017, Duke University Hospital recorded 42,609 inpatient admissions and 1,085,740 outpatient visits. Duke University Hospital ranked No. 17 in the country and No. 1 in North Carolina on U.S. News & World Report's 2017-18 Best Hospital rankings.”

• Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem.

Says the report: “Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is an academic medical center that operates 1,004 beds and had 40,810 inpatient admissions, 8,883 observation patients and 1.17 million outpatient visits in 2017. The medical center includes the Davie Medical Center in Bermuda Run, N.C., and Mocksville, N.C.; the Wilkes Medical Center in Wilkesboro, N.C.; and the Lexington (N.C.) Medical Center. The academic medical center employs 14,271 workers, including 1,246 school of medicine faculty with expertise in more than 100 different specialties, 3,075 registered nurses, 728 residents and fellows, and 479 medical students. In fiscal year 2016, Wake Forest Medical Center was awarded $177.3 million in research funding through 722 grants from public and private organizations.

• University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill.

Says the report: “University of North Carolina Medical Center, which includes UNC Hospitals and the clinics staffed with UNC faculty physicians, is an 803-bed facility that serves more than 37,000 people annually. The UNC Medical Center campus houses the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of 40 National Cancer Institute-designated centers in the country. U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC Medical Center the No. 3 hospital in North Carolina in its 2017-18 rankings.

The group says the hospitals that made the list have received national recognition for excellence in clinical care, patient outcomes and staff and doctor satisfaction. The list is in alphabetical order and are not to be taken as rankings.

“These institutions are industry leaders that have achieved advanced accreditation and certification in several specialties,” the group said on its website. “The list also includes industry innovators that have sparked trends in healthcare technology, hospital management and patient satisfaction.”

Becker’s Healthcare has a portfolio that includes trade publications, such as the magazine Becker's Hospital Review.

The hospital list is based on the group’s analysis of ranking and awards agencies, including the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, letter grades from The Leapfrog Group and Truven Health Analytics.

Becker's also sought nominations for the list.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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