8-16-2023 7:07am

11 Minnesota Institutions Named In US News 'Best Hospital' Rankings

Tom Akaolisa Editor

Mayo Clinic in Rochester is once again being honored as one of the best hospitals in the United States, according to rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

The hospital is the only Minnesota institution among the 22 hospitals nationwide to make the U.S. News "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" for 2023, an honor designated to hospitals that are "demonstrating exceptional breadth of excellence across clinical specialties."

The Mayo finished in the Top 5 in 13 disciplines and was listed as "high-performing" in two others. It's the best hospital in the U.S. for diabetes care, gastroenterology and pulmonology/lung surgery, while also ranking among the best for cancer care, cardiology, orthopedics, and neurology.

Only one other Minnesota hospital ranked in the Top 50 for any discipline, the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, which ranked 37th for cancer care and 40th for ear, nose and throat care.

The U.S. News rankings selected the honor roll from the 484 "Best Regional Hospitals" that deliver high-quality treatment across many areas of care.

Of those, 11 are in Minnesota, and they are ranked as follows:

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester
2= Allina Health Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
2= CentraCare-St. Cloud Hospital
4. M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis
5. Allina Health Mercy Hospital-Coon Rapids
6. M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital, Edina
7. Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center, Duluth
8= Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, St. Louis Park
8= Allina Health United Hospital, St. Paul
10. M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital, Burnsville
11. North Memorial Health Hospital, Robbinsdale

The publication has changed the way it compiles its rankings beginning this year, no longer differentiating between the top hospitals that made its Honor Roll. It came after criticism over how the rankings were compiled, with some hospitals pulling out from consideration.

"While we continue to value the usefulness of the Honor Roll in identifying broad clinical excellence, we also believe that the current format obscures the fact that all of the Honor Roll hospitals have attained the highest standard of care in the nation. As a result, after months of deliberation, we have changed the format of the Honor Roll list. Specifically, there will be no ordinal ranking for hospitals selected for this year’s Honor Roll," the publication said on July 11.

The methodology of rankings consist of "risk-adjusted mortality rates, patient experience, level of nursing care and how successfully each hospital helps patients get back home."