ST. LOUIS – July 13, 2001 – U.S.News & World Report’s 2001 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals” places Saint Louis University Hospital among the top 50 medical centers in treatment for the following disorders and diseases:

• digestive disease (29) – up from 40 last year
  
• ear, nose and throat (29)
  
• geriatrics (7)
  
• heart (23)
  
• hormonal disorders (26)
  
• kidney disease (33)
  
• orthopedics (32)
  
• respiratory (25)
  
• rheumatology (33) 
  
• urology (40)
  

“We are extremely pleased to have 10 programs that are ranked by their peers to be among the most elite in the country,” said Gary Peterson, MD, president of the Saint Louis University Hospital Medical Staff. “For us to have these programs nationally ranked reflects well for our hospital and its medical staff partner, the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Most of all, it reflects well on our patients and the care we provide them.”

In its 2001 edition, U.S.News assesses hospital care for 17 specialties at 1,878 hospitals nationwide, up from 1,701 last year. To be ranked, a hospital first had to meet at least one of three standards. It had to be a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school, or provide at least nine out of 17 prescribed technological services. Saint Louis University Hospital satisfied all three criteria. Also, for Saint Louis University Hospital to be eligible for ranking in the 10 specialties in which it was listed, the hospital had to perform a certain number of defined procedures over three years or had to be named an outstanding facility in U.S.News physician surveys. A formula then produced a score, or U.S.News Index, made up of three equal parts related to quality of care: reputation, mortality, and a group of various factors such as technology, procedure volume and nursing care.

Saint Louis University Hospital has 356 licensed beds, employs more than 1,600 people, has a medical staff of more than 400 physicians and cares for more than 12,000 inpatients and 180,000 outpatients each year. Saint Louis University Hospital is the academic teaching hospital for Saint Louis University’s health sciences professional clinical programs including the University’s School of Medicine. The hospital is also part of the Tenet Saint Louis network.