Becker's Hospital Review has named the following hospitals to its list, "100 Hospitals With Great Women's Health Programs." These hospitals offer outstanding programs within women's health, including gynecology, obstetrics, reproductive medicine and other gender-specific conditions and health needs.
The Becker's Hospital Review editorial team selected these hospitals based on clinical accolades, quality care and women's health proficiencies and awards. These hospitals have been recognized for excellence in this specialty by several sources, including HHS and its National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health model, U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, the World Health Organization's and UNICEF's Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, Delta Group CareChex and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals or associated healthcare providers. The following content should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute professional medical advice. Hospitals cannot pay to be included on this list and are presented in alphabetical order.
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital (Downers Grove, Ill.). Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital provides Level III obstetric, perinatal and neonatal services within its gynecology and obstetrics program — the highest level of care designated by Illinois. Its Women and Infants Center also provides women with specialized nurses, private birthing suites and an advanced neonatal intensive care unit for high-risk cases. Advocate Good Samaritan oncologists, hematologists and surgeons also treat breast and gynecological cancers through a wide array of procedures, advanced radiation therapies and minimally invasive surgeries.
Anderson Hospital (Cincinnati). Women's health needs are focused along a continuum of care at Anderson Hospital, part of the six-hospital Mercy Health. Anderson Hospital, a "Baby Friendly" institution as rated by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, offers maternity services with a Level II nursery. It also has a women's health center to ensure all patients have the right mix of physicians, nurses and technologists during their visit.
Aspirus Wausau (Wis.) Hospital. Aspirus offers several programs and events for women's health, ranging from free mammograms to specific programs for women's heart, mental, sexual and bone health. Its "Journey to Optimal Health" consultations also allow women to visit with nurse practitioners, who collaborate with primary care physicians and give education and support on women's most essential health needs. Aspirus, a three-time recipient of HealthGrades' maternity care excellence award, also has a state-of-the-art birthing center and newborn intensive care unit.
Aultman Hospital (Canton, Ohio). From the Breast Care Center to the Birth Center, Aultman Hospital's women's health program —a center of excellence and winner of HealthGrades' maternity care excellence award — provides women with several outlets for essential health services. The Breast Care Center, accredited by the American College of Radiology, offers breast screening, diagnostic digital mammography, breast MRI, ultrasound-guided breast core biopsies and other core breast health services.
Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center (Milwaukee). Breast health services, obstetric services, incontinence treatment from a team of urogynecologists and pelvic floor rehabilitation specialists — these offerings make Aurora St. Luke's one of the most comprehensive women's health programs in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists guide women through high-risk pregnancies, and Aurora experts also perform the cutting-edge, minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries as advanced treatment options.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center (Phoenix). Roughly 80 percent of all Banner Health employees are women, and the emphasis on quality women's healthcare services is epitomized at Banner's flagship organization, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Ranked in the top 40 hospital nationally for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report, Banner Good Samaritan offers maternity services, gynecology services, breast health, heart health and educational programs. John Martin, MD, one of Phoenix Magazine's "Top Docs," oversees The Women's Center, which is a center devoted to comprehensive women's health by combining academic training for obstetrics and gynecology residents with board-certified faculty physicians.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the top academic medical centers in the Midwest and country, offers top care throughout all phases of a woman's life — pre-reproductive, child-bearing and menopausal years — through the Washington University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Siteman Cancer Center and other facilities. Other features within the gynecology department include a fetal care center, high-risk pregnancy services and reproductive endocrinology. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Barnes-Jewish 10th in the country in gynecology and is one of the top women's health hospitals in St. Louis.
Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Mich.). Beaumont's women's health center of excellence has some of the leading programs in the nation, including minimally invasive gynecological services, reproductive genetics, the Women's Urology Center (the only multidisciplinary center dedicated to treating female urological incontinence and pelvic pain in the Midwest), the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center and a comprehensive breast care program. In total, Beaumont has more than 125 obstetric and gynecologic specialists and subspecialists, and researchers also conduct several clinical trials on advanced women's health treatments. The hospital is also a Baby-Friendly Hospital, as designated by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center (Mechanicsville, Va.). Bon Secours Memorial and Bon Secours St. Mary's, its sister hospital, were the only two hospitals in the Richmond, Va.-area to receive Magnet status in 2009. Bon Secours Memorial offers some of the most advanced and effective women's health treatments in the area, such as advanced mammography and minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries. The hospital also offers "Love and Learn with Bon Secours," a program that offers classes and education for pregnancy, birth and parenting — one of the largest such programs in Virginia.
Boone Hospital Center (Columbia, Mo.). Since 1921, Boone Hospital Center has been the epicenter for numerous newborns in the mid-Missouri region. The hospital sees roughly 2,000 births per year and has a wide-ranging selection of services as a referral hospital: amniocentesis, digital mammography and other breast health treatments. Boone Hospital's Harris Breast Center, a freestanding structure, is accredited by the American College of Radiology. Last year, CareChex rated Boone Hospital Center 12th in the country for quality in its women's health programs, and the hospital has won the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades the past three years.
Boston Medical Center. The Women's Health Group at Boston Medical Center, established in 1985, was one of the first in the nation to focus exclusively on the unique healthcare needs of women. BMC, designated a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health by HHS, offers a comprehensive array of clinical services for women, including bone health, breast health, comprehensive gynecology, menopause care, mental health, preventive medicine and a program to help women who are victims of violence.
Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). Brigham and Women's Hospital has provided specialized women's healthcare for roughly 175 years, making it not only a leader in women's health programs in the United States but also abroad. Ranked second in the country by U.S. News & World Report in gynecology services, Brigham and Women's also offers several other specialized programs in maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, women's cardiovascular disease, lupus, women's sports medicine and more. In 1976, researchers at Brigham and Women's launched the Nurses' Health Study, one of the largest and longest-running studies of women ever conducted that has led to groundbreaking research in every area of health.
Bryn Mawr (Pa.) Hospital. Part of Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr Hospital offers some of the most extensive women's healthcare within the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Obstetrics and gynecology professionals at the hospital specialize in several areas, including gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, reproductive endocrinology and urogynecology. The Bryn Mawr Center for Reproductive Medicine uses advanced reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization and andrology services, and Bryn Mawr's Care for Female Pelvic Floor Disorders program is one the largest pelvic floor disorder treatment programs in the Philadelphia area.
Carle Foundation Hospital (Urbana, Ill.). The women's health program at Carle Foundation Hospital includes services ranging from obstetrics and gynecology to midwifery and maternal-fetal medicine. Carle's midwifery practice is the largest in downstate Illinois. The hospital also offers minimally invasive treatments, such as da Vinci robotic surgery for complex hysterectomies. With its neonatal intensive care unit, Carle is the only hospital in the region offering Level III perinatal services. In 2011 and 2012, HealthGrades recognized Carle with the Women's Health Excellence Award.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). An esteemed medical center in the Los Angeles area, Cedars-Sinai's women's health programs expand far and wide. The Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center is one of the leading institutes in the country focusing on the treatment and identification of women's heart disease. Cedars-Sinai also offers breast care at the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center, maternity services for the simplest or most complex of pregnancies, obstetrics and gynecologic services that include a specific female pelvic floor health program and an established women's health research registry for clinical trials.
Christiana Hospital (Wilmington, Del.). Christiana Hospital is the only HHS-designated National Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health in its region and consequently has some of the area's leading women's health programs. The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center offers care for breast services and gynecologic oncology, and it is one of the primary breast MRI units within Delaware. High quality measures within its gynecology services also place Christiana as a top hospital within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Cleveland Clinic. Renowned for its heart care, Cleveland Clinic also has a nationally recognized women's health program. It offers one of the only special delivery units in the country — a unit with a team of maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists and others who offer coordinated care for pregnant women and newborns in extremely critical condition. In 2010, Cleveland Clinic researchers at its Lerner Research Institute also developed a prototype vaccine that could prevent breast cancer. Overall, Cleveland Clinic ranks third nationally in gynecology services, according U.S. News & World Report's rankings for 2012-2013.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, N.H.). Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has consistently ranked among the best hospitals in gynecology care, and its massive list of women's health services has set it apart in New Hampshire. In addition to being a Baby-Friendly facility, the hospital has a comprehensive breast program included within its nationally recognized cancer research and treatment center. Dartmouth-Hitchcock's gynecologic oncology division also diagnoses and treats gynecologic cancers, participates in clinical trials and works to advance the understanding of cancer in women.
Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.). Part of Duke Health, Duke University Hospital's multidisciplinary team of women's health physicians and researchers address nearly every health issue a woman can have, from benign gynecologic disorders to complex infectious diseases. Duke's staff of female cardiologists also evaluates women, young and old, for cardiovascular risks. The department of obstetrics and gynecology was established in 1931, and it sees more than 85,000 specialty and subspecialty outpatients annually. This past year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke as the eighth best hospital in the nation for gynecology services.
EMH Elyria (Ohio) Medical Center. For the past four years, the 387-bed, three-campus hospital has received the HealthGrades Women's Health Excellence Award, ranking it among the top 5 percent in the nation for women's health. EMH's women's health programs focus on every stage of a woman's life and place extra emphasis on preventive measures such as yearly gynecology exams. There are four main physicians within EMH's women's health program, and they also provide services in urogynecology and minimally invasive surgeries when needed.
Emory University Hospital (Atlanta). Emory University Hospital's women's health program includes the basic gynecology and obstetrics services, but it also has a breast health center, women's heart center and reproductive center. Top reproductive endocrinologists treat a wide range of medical issues, including polycystic ovary syndrome, stress-induced infertility and more, and Emory physicians also perform uterine fibroid embolization — a minimally invasive alternative to hysterectomies. Last year, the hospital was ranked 22nd by U.S. News & World Report for gynecology, and in 2010, eight Emory gynecologists were named "Top Doctors" by Atlanta Magazine.
Evanston (Ill.) Hospital. Clinical outcomes in the gynecology and obstetrics divisions of Evanston Hospital, and parent organization NorthShore University HealthSystem, have consistently ranked favorably compared with other similar institutions across the country. The hospital's Caesarean section rate is far lower than the average institution within the National Perinatal Information Center's 2011 database. Evanston Hospital serves as the primary NorthShore site for maternal-fetal medicine services and also serves as a teaching hub for the University of Chicago Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship training program. Evanston Hospital also serves as a regional perinatal network hospital for northeastern Illinois, meaning high-risk mothers and high-risk babies are transferred to Evanston to receive care in its infant special care unit.
Fairview Southdale Hospital (Edina, Minn.). Fairview Southdale Hospital offers comprehensive women's healthcare within the Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services. Its maternal-fetal medicine team has the only physician in Minnesota who is dually trained in maternal-fetal medicine and clinical genetics, and the hospital's maternal-fetal medicine centers are part of the University of Minnesota National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Fairview Southdale's breast center is also an American College of Radiology-designated breast imaging center of excellence.
Flagler Hospital (St. Augustine, Fla.). Flagler Hospital would be nothing without women. Henry Flagler, the hospital's namesake, brought together the most influential women in St. Augustine in 1888 to plan a hospital for the community. The women accepted the challenge and consequently helped formulate Flagler Hospital, which opened in 1890. The hospital is now seen as a beacon for women's health in the area, receiving HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award every year since 2010. Flagler Hospital has a maternity services center of excellence, which provides childbirth preparation classes and private postpartum suites, and it also provides digital mammography and a breast cancer patient navigator program.
Florida Hospital (Orlando). The flagship hospital of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System, Florida Hospital's roots to women's health services go back to its establishment. One of the first female physicians in the United States helped found Florida Hospital in 1908, and its Women's Center is a cornerstone of care, just as it was when the hospital opened. Services at the Women's Center include cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, digestive, imaging, maternity and obstetrics, breastfeeding support, menopause counseling, minimally invasive surgery, gynecology, orthopedics and more.
Glendale (Calif.) Memorial Hospital and Health Center. In July 2005, Glendale Memorial, part of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, was the first hospital in Los Angeles County to be designated a Baby-Friendly hospital. It provides private birthing suites for patients with a Level II neonatal intensive care unit nearby for high-risk pregnancies. Glendale Memorial also has a certified comprehensive perinatal services program, deemed by the California Department of Public Health, which incorporates basic obstetrical care and other women's health services for low-income pregnant women.
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center (La Crosse, Wis.). Gundersen Lutheran offers many women's health services unique to its region and is ranked in the top 15 in the nation for women's health quality, according to CareChex's 2012 ratings. Its Fertility Center is the only one in the area to offer an in-vitro fertilization program, and it also has the first and largest midwifery program in Wisconsin. Gundersen Lutheran has the La Crosse region's only board-certified, full-time perinatologist who can work with high-risk pregnancies. The Avery R. Gundersen Center for Women in Gundersen Lutheran's Onalaska Clinic is the newest component of the hospital's women's health program, as it brings a range of clinical services — ranging from obstetrics and gynecology to educational programming — into one location.
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. Within Hackensack University Medical Center is the Donna A. Sanzari Women's Hospital, which opened in 2009. The hospital has 14 private labor, delivery and recovery rooms, 60 private mother-baby rooms and a maternal-fetal medicine perinatal diagnostic unit. The department of obstetrics and gynecology has more than 100 physicians, and it is a designated training site for the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, which has been used to treat various benign and cancerous gynecologic conditions. From 2010 through 2012, HealthGrades presented HackensackUMC with the Women's Health Excellence Award, and the hospital also ranks in the top 50 by CareChex for women's health quality.
Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach (Fla.). The 944-bed hospital's Center for Oncology offers the area's only gynecologic oncology services. In addition, the Board of the Fellowship in Gynecologic Endoscopy approved Halifax Health in 2008 as the first program in Florida to participate in the gynecologic endoscopy fellowship program, which provides top training for laparoscopic and robotic surgeries in gynecology cases. Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach is also an area leader in obstetrics, delivering more than 2,000 babies every year, and it has the area's only obstetrics emergency department.
Hutzel Women's Hospital (Detroit). Founded in 1868, Hutzel Women's Hospital, which is part of Detroit Medical Center and Harper University Hospital, is the second-oldest hospital in Detroit. Seven women helped create the hospital after the Civil War, and since then, it has become one of the most recognized women's health centers in the country. It is home to several medical firsts in women's health: In 1909, it established Michigan's first research lab devoted to studying "the diseases of women;" Michigan's first successful in vitro births were born at Hutzel in 1984; and in 2002, it became a pioneer organization for treating women with polyscystic ovarian syndrome who have infertility problems.
Hartford (Conn.) Hospital. Hartford Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Connecticut, is one of the top birthing centers in the state. It delivers more than 4,000 babies every year and has a nationally recognized residency program in obstetrics and gynecology. Hartford Hospital — a three-time recipient of HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award and a Baby-Friendly Hospital — also participates in the national Gynecology Oncology Groups, an organization that aims to promote clinical and scientific research in the field of gynecologic malignancies.
Holy Cross Hospital (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Holy Cross Hospital has a unique women's center — the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women's Center — designed for women and by women. The Jeane M. Dorini Women's Imaging and Diagnostic Suite, designated a breast imaging center of excellence by the American College of Radiology, offers digital mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound exams. The hospital also offers several other outpatient treatments, including a specialized osteoporosis program.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). Penn Medicine's flagship facility is a mainstay of women's health programs in the Philadelphia area, offering care in several different areas in the Helen O. Dickens Center for Women's Health: OB/GYN, behavioral health, breast health, cardiac care, cancer care, orthopedic care and more. HUP — ranked 23rd in the country for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report this year — also has the only reproductive research laboratory in the Philadelphia region, as it also works with the Women's Health Clinical Research Center and Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center.
Huntington Hospital (Pasadena, Calif.). Founded in 1892, Huntington Hospital has given its women's health program a comprehensive focus since the doors first opened. Roughly 1,000 gynecological surgeries are performed at the hospital each year using state-of-the-art minimally invasive and hysteroscopic technologies. Its Huntington-Hill Breast Center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons' National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers — one of the few in the Los Angeles area and throughout the country. HealthGrades has given its Women's Health Excellence Award to Huntington Hospital in each of the past three years.
Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital/University Hospital (Indianapolis). In addition to general obstetrical and gynecologic care, IU Health Methodist and University Hospitals, the downtown Indianapolis flagship of IU Health, employs Indiana's largest staff of maternal-fetal medicine physicians who specialize in high-risk pregnancies. A Magnet-hospital with a Baby-Friendly designation, IU Health Methodist/University also offers some of the most advanced urogynecologic services in the state, and physicians and researchers are actively involved in research and education for new and innovative women's health treatments at the IU Health Methodist Research Institute.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital (Harvey, Ill.). Ingalls Memorial Hospital, based in the south suburbs of Chicago, offers a full range of services for women and their families. The hospital's breast care has received numerous accolades: The Richard K. Desser, MD, Comprehensive Breast Center is accredited through the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers — the first hospital in the south Chicago to achieve the designation — and it also offers access to more than 50 active cancer research studies. Ingalls Memorial Hospital also was the first community hospital in the area to offer uterine fibroid embolization to treat uterine fibroid tumors.
Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Va.). Inova Fairfax Hospital has one of the largest and busiest obstetrics programs in the Washington, D.C., area, and it also offers the area's largest gynecology program with expertise in gynecologic oncology. In addition to its Level III neonatal intensive care unit, Inova Fairfax offers one of the largest teams of infertility and reproductive endocrinology specialists in the region. The hospital also sponsors the InovaCares Clinic for Women, which provides outpatient prenatal and gynecological charity care for indigent patients who live in Fairfax County.
Jersey Shore University Medical Center (Neptune, N.J.). Jersey Shore University Medical Center's women's health program centers around five main services: a breast care program, the Perricone Center for Gynecologic Oncology, maternity, the Perinatal Institute and a pelvic reconstructive surgery and urogynecology program. JSUMC's team of obstetricians and gynecologists work closely with the K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital, also in Neptune, for maternity and perinatal services, and it is one of the only hospitals in the area that offers water birth options for women.
Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore). Few women's health programs compare to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Specific care centers for women's cardiovascular health, mood disorders, pelvic health and more set the hospital apart, and Johns Hopkins' department of gynecology and obstetrics offers world-renowned care for women seeking fertility, gynecological oncology and maternity services. Since 1995, Johns Hopkins has also hosted its annual women's health conference, A Woman's Journey, which features seminars taught by Johns Hopkins faculty physicians and scientists. Women are able to hear first-hand about the different advances and research in women's health medical specialties.
Kaiser Permanente Downey (Calif.) Medical Center. Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center, a 352-bed hospital that opened in fall 2009 and cost $390 million, replaced Kaiser's Bellflower Medical Center, which was 44 years old at the time. A Baby-Friendly facility that helps with more than 1,700 births annually, Downey Medical Center offers women the latest treatments and procedures in gynecology and obstetrics in state-of-the-art operating rooms and private suites. In 2012, CareChex rated Downey Medical Center a top 20 hospital for women's health quality.
Keck Hospital of the University of Southern California (Los Angeles). Keck Hospital of the USC's women's health program provides dedicated care with its academic medical center environment. The Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center offers the latest diagnoses, treatments, reconstruction, counseling, imaging and after-care help in one location, and Keck Hospital has a clinic for women's cancers and a fertility division within the Keck School of Medicine. Keck Hospital also offers comprehensive reproductive health services in an outpatient setting.
Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital. Within Lancaster General Hospital is the Women & Babies Hospital, a facility that opened in 2000 and focuses completely on the healthcare needs of women in the region. Physicians at the hospital deliver more than 4,000 babies per year, more than any other in Lancaster County, and the Suzanne H. Arnold Center for Breast Health was the first breast cancer program in the county to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Lancaster General's Women & Babies Hospital is also the only woman's hospital in the area to have a da Vinci Surgical System for outpatient and inpatient surgeries.
LDS Hospital (Salt Lake City). For more than 100 years, LDS Hospital, part of Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare, has been a leader in the state for obstetrics, gynecology and breast care. LDS Hospital also offers preventive, diagnostic and treatment services related to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, urology, obesity management and cosmetic surgery. The hospital's women's and newborn program assists in roughly 3,200 births every year, and the hospital's overall gynecology program was ranked in the top 30 nationally this year by U.S. News & World Report.
Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC (Pittsburgh). Part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Magee-Womens Hospital was one of first National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health recognized by HHS, and the pioneering women's hospital has now been operating for 101 years. Its Magee-Womens Research Institute, founded in 1992, is also the first research center in the United States that exclusively studies women and infant health conditions. Roughly 10,000 babies are born at Magee every year, and 500,000 babies have been born since the hospital opened in 1911. Its nationally renowned clinical programs cover breast cancer, lupus, gynecology, fetal surgery, gynecologic cancers and more.
Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). Massachusetts General Hospital's department of obstetrics and gynecology originally began as the Vincent Memorial Hospital, which focused on treating sick and indigent women. Isaac Schiff, MD, has been the chief of MGH's department of obstetrics and gynecology since 1988, and during those two-plus decades, the hospital has become a leader in advancing the science and quality of care for women. This past February, MGH researchers were able to isolate egg-producing stem cells from the ovaries of reproductive age women and showed that the cells can produce normal egg cells or oocytes, which are immature egg cells. Overall, MGH ranks as the top overall hospital in the United States and sixth overall for gynecology services, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Excellence in patient care has been a staple at Mayo Clinic for decades now, and its women's health programs are no different. In fact, U.S. News & World Report ranked Mayo Clinic as the best hospital in the country when it comes to gynecology services. The department of obstetrics and gynecology offers some of the most advanced gynecologic specialty services and pregnancy services in the country, and Mayo Clinic researchers stay at the forefront of women's health breakthroughs. Also in 2011, Mayo Clinic established the Women's Health Research Center, which builds on the system's strong base of women's health-related research and complements the system's women's cancer program, breast services, women's heart services and more.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (Washington, D.C.). Between its Betty Lou Ourisman Breast Health Center, department of obstetrics and gynecology and neonatal intensive care unit, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital provides women in the metropolitan D.C. area with some of the most expansive women's health services. In an unusual feat last year, Georgetown University Hospital physicians helped a mother who had previously received a small bowel transplant deliver her baby in an uncomplicated pregnancy — only the second time the situation successfully occurred in the United States.
Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center (Houston). Within the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center stands Women's Memorial Hermann, a hospital devoted solely to helping women of all ages. The hospital partners with the University of Texas Medical School at Houston for maternal-fetal medicine. Memorial City Medical Center is also the first hospital in south Texas to offer 3-D mammography, which is housed in its Bobetta Lindig Breast Center.
Mercy Hospital (Miami). One of only a handful of hospitals to receive HealthGrades' excellence awards in both women's health (2010, 2011 and 2012) and maternity care (2010), Mercy Hospital provides some of the most extensive medical care for women in the Miami region. The hospital's Women's Center provides patients with high-grade diagnostic imaging services, and Mercy Hospital's maternity ward physicians deliver more than 1,400 babies each year. Additionally, the hospital provides in-depth pre- and post-natal education for expectant parents.
Meriter Hospital (Madison, Wis.). The 448-bed Meriter Hospital offers evaluation, treatment and procedures for a variety of women's health issues, ranging from perinatal care to women's heart care. Meriter's Generations Fertility Care is a joint venture between the hospital and the University of Wisconsin Health and has some of the leading reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists in the Madison area. The hospital's Center for Perinatal Care, a joint program with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, also offers extensive services to women with complicated, pregnancy-related medical problems.
The Methodist Hospital (Houston). Women's health programs usually involve the hospital's gynecology, obstetrics and breast care departments, but The Methodist Hospital views "women's healthcare from a broader perspective, offering general wellness and illness programs tailored specifically to women," according to its website. In addition to wellness programs, The Methodist Hospital has a Center for Restorative Pelvic Medicine within its division of urogynecology to provide comprehensive treatment for women's pelvic floor disorders. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital 20th for gynecology.
Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center. Recipient of two Women's Health Excellence Awards in the past two years from HealthGrades, Morristown Medical Center — part of Morristown-based Atlantic Health System — has an extensive women's health program. It has a breast center, women's cancer center and specialty center to increase awareness about arthritis and osteoporosis in women in addition to midlife health and urogynecology services. MMC, which U.S. News & World Report ranked among the top 40 hospitals this year for gynecology services, also has a state-of-the-art maternity center that includes a 56-bed nursery and 54 private rooms in which mothers and babies can stay together at all hours of the day.
The Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City). The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for gynecologic services, but the New York City hospital also offers gastroenterology, cardiovascular services, dermatology, breast health, cancer screening and mental health services specifically for women. The hospital is also a renowned teaching and research facility and has made several advances in women's healthcare treatments. Three years ago, researchers with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, which is affiliated with the hospital, discovered that injecting a new class of molecules into a specific oncogene could lead to the elimination of tumor cells associated with ovarian cancer — the most lethal of all gynecologic cancers in the United States.
Munson Medical Center (Traverse City, Mich.). From 2010 to 2012, Munson Medical Center has won HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award. The hospital, known for its lower rates of mortality across nine different heart conditions, offers heart disease screenings and information online for patients to learn about proper heart health. MMC also has a breast health coordinator available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide women in northern Michigan with information and guidance on issues they may be having with breast cancer or general breast health.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York City). NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a vanguard not only for women's health but also for the women's movement in general. In 1887, its Sloane Maternity Hospital became New York City's first medical facility devoted to women's health. In 1946, it named Connie Guion, MD, as the first woman professor of clinical medicine in the United States. To this day, NewYork-Presbyterian offers nationally recognized care across gynecology, obstetrics, reproductive medicine and other areas at the Iris Cantor Women's Health Center and other centers of excellence around the campus. U.S. News & World Report ranked NewYork-Presbyterian 17th in the nation for gynecology services this year.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Considered to be one of the best hospitals in Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital's women's health services are completely housed in its Prentice Women's Hospital within its downtown campus. It provides comprehensive care across several areas for women: pregnancy and newborn care, primary and gynecologic care, women's heart health, female-specific cancers, aging diseases such as Alzheimer's and other movement disorders and counseling services. The Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care — named after the late Maggie Daley, wife of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley — is one of the premier women's cancer programs in the country, offering women access to more than 100 clinical trials.
NYU Langone Medical Center (New York City). NYU Langone Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology is composed of eight divisions: epidemiology, family planning, global women's health, gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, obstetric and gynecologic ultrasound, reproductive endocrinology and infertility and urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery. James Grifo, MD, PhD, is the director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility — a major research hub — and has pioneered women's health innovations such as the preimplantation genetic diagnosis. NYU Langone's division of global women's health is an international women's health advocate, partnering with various local academic and medical centers is sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.
Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans). Ochsner Medical Center's women's services covers 15 different areas, from gynecologic robotic surgery to anesthesiology. The Ochsner Vulva Center is a unique clinic within the gynecology department that specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of vulvovaginal problems. This year, Ochsner was ranked 22nd in the country for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report and received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades. The Magnet-designated facility also has 24 nurses — many within the labor and delivery departments — who are among the "Great 100 Nurses of Louisiana."
Oregon Health & Science University Hospital (Portland). OHSU Hospital's Center for Women's Health is the only HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's health in the Northwest, receiving the designation in 2003. The 560-bed hospital's gynecologic oncology team was the first group in Oregon dedicated to treating gynecologic malignancies as a partner with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. OHSU Hospital, which is an important research center for various women's diseases, is also ranked as the top hospital in the Portland metropolitan area and the state of Oregon, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2012-2013 rankings.
Parkland Memorial Hospital (Dallas). Parkland Memorial Hospital was the first hospital to have a neonatal intensive care unit in Dallas County, and its neonatal team oversees 300 high-risk deliveries every month. Parkland is one of the busiest obstetrics centers in the country, with more than 15,000 deliveries every year. In total, Parkland is affiliated with 10 different women's health centers and clinics throughout the county, offering gynecologic, family planning and preventive care in a more local setting.
Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia). In 1803, a little more than 50 years after the hospital's founding, Pennsylvania Hospital established a "lying-in," also known as a maternity department — the first recognized specialty at the hospital and one of the first maternity departments in the country. Today, Pennsylvania Hospital, part of Penn Medicine, offers an integrated women's health program with several specialty services and OB/GYN care. The Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital is a leader in Philadelphia in integrated breast cancer care and gynecologic oncology. Thomas Randall, MD, and Patricia Ford, MD, are co-directors of the hospital's and cancer center's gynecologic oncology program.
Rex Hospital (Raleigh, N.C.). Rex Hospital, the flagship facility of Rex Healthcare and part of UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill, N.C., works in conjunction with healthcare providers from the University of North Carolina Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and North Carolina Women's Hospital to offer high-quality care for women in Raleigh and Wake County. The UNC Specialty Women's Center at Rex offers services in gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery. With 40 private rooms, Rex Women's Center provides comfort for women during their pregnancies, and the hospital delivers more babies than any other hospital in North Carolina's Triangle region, which includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). The department of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA Medical Center has a long tradition of accomplishment and is considered by U.S. News & World Report to be the best in Southern California and the West Coast. Several storied women's health researchers and physicians worked extensively at UCLA, including Nickolas Assali, MD, W.J. Dignam, MD, and J.G. Moore, MD. The Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center, which specializes in preventive care for women, is a National Center of Excellence.
Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). Women of all ages are able to receive thorough care at Rush University Medical Center, which is the teaching hospital of Rush University and one of the top academic medical centers in Chicago. Rush's Heart Center for Women, the first heart program in Chicago devoted exclusively to women, offers virtually every heart treatment option. The Rush Breast Imaging Center is also part of the hospital's Comprehensive Breast Cancer Clinic. Rush has a unique sports medicine program designed specifically for female athletes. Kathleen Weber, MD, a team physician for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, heads the women's sports medicine program.
Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital. Sarasota Memorial Hospital would not be standing without the dedicated women of the community. In 1921, women residents of Sarasota raised money to fund the first hospital in the area, and in 1925, Sarasota Hospital opened as a 32-bed facility. Today, the hospital provides high-quality women's health programs, ranging from gynecological cancer to pain management, and it is the only hospital in the four-county region to have an intensive care nursery for new mothers. James Fiorica, MD, leads Sarasota Memorial's women's cancer specialty program, which is a collaboration of primary care physicians, gynecologists and obstetricians to ensure women have access to local cancer treatments.
Scottsdale (Ariz.) Healthcare Shea Medical Center. The 433-bed Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, the largest hospital within Scottsdale Healthcare, is the central hub for women's health services in the Scottsdale region. For the past two years, the hospital has received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades, thanks in large part to its women's heart health program. Scottsdale Healthcare Shea's heart program focuses on preventive heart care and routine checkups, and it reinforces the health system's philosophy on health for women: to improve the health status of women in the community through education, prevention and the use of screening, diagnostic testing and early intervention.
Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas (Calif.). Out of all the women's health services at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, the hospital is best known for its Leichtag Family Birth Pavilion, which is San Diego County's first Baby-Friendly birth pavilion. Mothers-to-be receive quality care within the hospital's maternity unit, and there is a six-bed, Level II neonatal intensive care nursery nearby for infants who have special health needs following birth. Several minimally invasive surgeries are also available. In 2010, 68 percent of women having a hysterectomy at Scripps had the procedure using minimally invasive technology, which is more than double the national average of 33 percent for that type of surgery.
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Part of LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore's women's health center of excellence provides a full range of obstetric and gynecologic services as well as support services and programs. The Louis and Henrietta Blaustein Women's Health Center opened in 2005 and provides state-of-the-art care to expectant mothers and newborns, and in total, the hospital oversees more than 3,000 deliveries annually. Some of Sinai Hospital's specific women's health support programs include the Women, Children & Youth HIV program, the perinatal depression outreach program and the perinatal addictions specialist services.
Spartanburg (S.C.). Regional Medical Center. Spartanburg Regional Medical Center is a "premier" member of the Spirit of Women Health Network, which is a hospital coalition committed to women's health. Within the hospital's women's health program is the Bearden-Josey Center for Breast Health — the only complete breast imaging center in South Carolina's "Upcountry." The breast center has digital mammography, is accredited by the American College of Radiology and has four different mammogram locations. Spartanburg Regional also has a HeartCaring program, which empowers women with knowledge and resources to reduce their risks for heart disease.
Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Women's health has been a staple at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital since its earliest days in the 19th century. In 1890, Butterworth Hospital completed the construction of its hospital, and obstetrics and gynecology were two of the major clinical divisions. The hospital, ranked 21st in the country this year by U.S. News & World Report for gynecology, also delivers more than 8,000 babies each year — more than any other hospital in Michigan. Its Family Birthplace gives women special attention to genetics, infertility, maternal-fetal medicine, postpartum depression and all other essential aspects of family planning.
SSM St. Clare Health Center (Fenton, Mo.). St. Clare Health Center, part of St. Louis-based SSM Health, was established in 2009 and has already garnered attention for its women's health initiatives. The hospital — rated in the top 15 for women's health by CareChex for 2012 — recorded more than 1,400 births in 2011 and has state-of-the-art private maternity suites for all expectant mothers. Obstetrical care includes advanced testing and procedures, such as continuous fetal monitoring and amniocentesis and external cephalic version. St. Clare's breast center also provides comprehensive services for women through a multidisciplinary team of mammography technicians, nurse navigators and breast surgeons.
St. Elizabeth Edgewood (Ky.). From breast care to heart programs and from osteoporosis services to preventive care, St. Elizabeth Edgewood has a firm grasp on women's wellness services. Henrietta Cleveland, a local resident, and three nuns from Germany actually laid the foundation for St. Elizabeth in 1861 after realizing the greater Cincinnati area needed more hospital services. The hospital's recently expanded and renovated Family Birth Place features 33 labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum suites, and St. Elizabeth Edgewood was named one of the top 10 places in America to have a baby by Fit Pregnancy Magazine.
St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center (Syracuse, N.Y.). At the center of St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center's women services is its maternity care, as it is the only hospital in central New York to be designated as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. The hospital has a mother-baby unit for new mom's to sleep with their newborns, which can decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. St. Joseph's also has primary care centers and surgery centers that focus on gynecological surgery, breast health and osteoporosis screening.
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (Houston). St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is considered to be one of the top heart hospitals in the country this year by U.S. News & World Report, and the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's specially caters to women, considering heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. St. Luke's services also include hormone-replacement therapy, gynecological and menopause-related issues, cancer treatment, incontinence and weight management. St. Luke's surgeons are leaders in minimally invasive surgical alternatives to hysterectomies and other gynecologic procedures.
St. Luke's Hospital (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Three out of four babies in the Cedar Rapids region are born at St. Luke's Hospital, which has won the HealthGrades Women's Health Excellence Award in each of the past three years. It also has the only regional Level II newborn intensive care unit in the community. When it comes to breast care, St. Luke's has a team of registered nurses who have received training through the Oncology Nursing Society and were among the first in the country to become certified breast care nurses.
St. Vincent Women's Hospital (Indianapolis). Health insurer Humana originally founded St. Vincent Women's Hospital in 1983, and the Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health acquired the hospital in 2003. Currently, St. Vincent Women's Hospital is central Indiana's only dedicated women's hospital — and the largest comprehensive women's health service facility in Indiana overall — and it encompasses 48 private rooms and a 78-bed Level III newborn intensive care unit. The hospital also has the largest group of maternal-fetal medicine physicians in Indiana. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked St. Vincent 18th in the country for gynecology services, and also this year, the hospital received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Palo Alto, Calif.). Women's health at Stanford involves several integrated areas, including cardiology, clinical research studies, female sexual medicine, neurology, urogynecology and many more. The Stanford Women's Cancer Center provides world-class care for women with breast and gynecologic cancers, and Stanford is renowned for cancer trials and innovations. Lynn Westphal, MD, is the director of women's health at Stanford, and she started one of the first oocyte cryopreservation programs in the country, solidifying herself as a leader in facilitating fertility preservation for cancer survivors.
Strong Memorial Hospital (Rochester, N.Y.). Strong Memorial Hospital is the 739-bed teaching hospital for the University of Rochester School of Medicine and the University of Rochester Medical Center. Hospital-based services for women range across the entire medical center and include maternity, fertility, breast care, general fitness for women and heart health. The Women's Health and the Environment over the Entire Lifespan, or WHEEL, is a junior faculty training program funded through the National Institutes of Health that aims to see how exposure to environmental chemicals affects men and women differently and how environmental factors particularly fits within the scope of women's health.
Sutter Medical Center (Sacramento, Calif.). Comprised of three campuses and the flagship of Sutter Health, Sutter Medical Center offers women in the Sacramento Sierra region comprehensive primary and advanced care throughout their life spans. Sutter Medical Center delivers more babies than any other hospital in the region. The hospital is also in the process of a major expansion project, which includes the 242-bed Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center. The facility will focus primarily on acute-care services, and Sutter Medical Center CEO Carrie Owen Plietz said it will be "among the finest hospitals for birthing and children's services in the state."
Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. Tampa General Hospital's Women's Center has 21 labor/delivery suites, four C-section rooms, four gynecology operating rooms, an ultrasound suite and an in vitro fertilization laboratory. The IVF program is based at TGH and is part of the University of South Florida. TGH's breast health program offers some of the most advanced services in the Tampa area to treat breast abnormalities, including digital mammography, breast MRI, breast ultrasound, biopsies, cyst aspirations and galactography. Last year, U.S. News & World Report named TGH to its top 50 hospitals in the country for gynecology care.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia). Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is nestled within one of the premier academic medical centers in the Philadelphia area. Women's health services at Jefferson include breast health, cardiovascular care, urology, mental health, domestic violence awareness, obstetrics and gynecology, epilepsy, sleep, bone health and integrative medicine. Jefferson is the only hospital in the region to offer Cool Cap therapy for newborns who need additional oxygen — Cool Cap therapy reduces brain activity, which allows time for recovery and reduces brain damage. The hospital's epilepsy program is also a unique initiative that focuses on the association of seizures and menses as well as sexual function and fertility in epilepsy.
University Hospital (Ann Arbor, Mich.). The women's health program at University Hospital and the University of Michigan Health System is an HHS National Center of Excellence. Last year, the University of Michigan department of obstetrics and gynecology moved into the new 12-story C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital — a facility featuring a new birthing center as well as specialty inpatient and outpatient services for women. Overall, UM's women's health program covers dozens of areas, including genetic counseling, gynecologic urology, in vitro fertilization, cervical and other gynecologic cancers and care for women with developmental disabilities.
University Hospital (Salt Lake City). University Hospital is the flagship hospital of the University of Utah Health Care, the only academic medical center in the Salt Lake City area. Women's health services are a central focus for both the University of Utah research team as well as the hospital's physicians. The University of Utah department of obstetrics and gynecology has set the standard in the Salt Lake region for comprehensive prenatal care and is a leader for women in labor and delivery, maternal-fetal medicine and gastroenterology.
University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital (Cleveland). UH MacDonald is a teaching and research-based hospital within the UH system, and it was founded as Maternity Hospital of Cleveland in 1891. It is the only hospital in Ohio dedicated to women's health, with services ranging from egg donation and in vitro fertilization to maternal-fetal medicine and specialty women's surgeries. UH MacDonald is a Level III regional perinatal center, the highest classification available to hospitals offering maternity services. This past June, the hospital was selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Within UAB Hospital is the UAB Women & Infants Center, which houses comprehensive services in gynecologic surgery, high-risk pregnancies, infertility services, women's cancer and more. UAB Hospital is the only hospital in Alabama where maternal-fetal medicine physicians are available in-house for female patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. G. Wright Bates, MD, associate professor and director of UAB's division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility won the "Best Fertility Specialist" award in 2012 for the second straight year, according to the Parent's Choice Awards.
University of California San Francisco Medical Center. UCSF Medical Center, one of the premier academic medical centers in the country, has an extensive list of women's health services and is an HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Breast cancer, dozens of gynecological conditions, seven types of gynecologic cancer, incontinence and other women's health issues are treated at UCSF Medical Center. One of the most unique aspects of the hospital is the UCSF Women's Health Clinical Research Center. Created in 2001, the research center strengthens clinical and teaching programs in women's health through interdisciplinary research programs, junior faculty training in clinical research and a fellowship in clinical research methods.
University of California Irvine Medical Center (Orange). The Women's Healthcare Center at UC Irvine Medical Center is one of the top centers of consultative and treatment services for women in Orange County. UC Irvine Medical Center is a hub for advanced research and technology, including for women's health issues. It was the first healthcare facility in the nation to use OxiFirst to monitor newborns' oxygen saturation levels while still in the mother's birth canal, and this practice has helped reduce the number of Caesarean sections for women. UC Irvine physician Scott Goodwin, MD, is one of the pioneers of uterine fibroid embolization, which involves threading a catheter from a woman's femoral artery to the uterine arteries as an alternative to invasive surgery.
University of Chicago Medical Center. The University of Chicago Medical Center's focus on women's health services is among the best in Chicago and the Midwest. The hospital is one of 10 regional perinatal centers in Illinois and serves as a referral center for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. The University of Chicago also has its Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine for Women and Girls with Cancer, which is designed to identify, prevent and treat sexual health problems in female cancer patients and survivors. PRISM is the first program in Illinois and one of few in the country to devote resources specifically to these sexual health problems for women.
University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City). Ranked by U.S. News & World Report this year as the best hospital in the Kansas City metropolitan area, the University of Kansas Hospital comprehensive women's health program revolves heavily around its cancer and women's cardiac care. Carol Fabian, MD, a breast medical oncologist and a professor of internal medicine, founded the University of Kansas Hospital's Breast Cancer Prevention Center. The Adelaide C. Ward Women's Heart Health Center opened in March 2012 to develop services, consultations, education, support groups and other programs for women with heart disease.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas). UT Southwestern's physicians have offered comprehensive gynecology, obstetrics, women's wellness and several specialized programs for more than 40 years. The Lowe Foundation Center for Women's Preventative Health Care gives pre- and postmenopausal women an outlet for integrated healthcare, and UT Southwestern's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center serves as a refuge for women suffering from various types of gender-specific cancer. UT Southwestern also has one of the largest divisions of urogynecology in the country.
University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.). Reproductive medicine, pregnancy and delivery, female pelvic floor disorders, female teen health — the University of Virginia Medical Center covers a wide range of women's health issues. UVA is one of only 12 hospitals recognized by the Virginia Department of Health for its support to breastfeeding mothers, and it also has the region's only program for women who are at high risk for breast and ovarian cancers. UVA researchers are also involved in the UVA Mammography Project, a study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense that aims to help create a risk model that personalizes breast cancer screening recommendations.
University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). U.S. News & World Report recently ranked UW Medical Center 34th in the country in gynecology, and the Magnet-rated hospital also has highly touted services in obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, gynecologic cancer care and vulvovaginal disorders. UW Medical Center and UW Medicine researchers were also instrumental in the development of the human papilloma virus vaccine. HPV is the virus that can lead to cervical cancer. Laura Koutsky, MD, helped lead the study to test the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, and the findings led to the FDA approval of Gardasil.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Vanderbilt's women's health program covers millions of women located throughout Nashville and the Southeast. The department of obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt provides prenatal care and delivery services to roughly 3,300 women per year, and roughly 500 women are treated for tertiary, high-risk labor and delivery care. Howard Jones III, MD, is a chairman of VUMC's department of obstetrics and gynecology, and he has described the hospital's fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery for women's health procedures as one of only about 25 in the country. The fellowship is in its second year and has one of the highest case numbers when compared with similar programs in the country.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology is among the leaders in gynecologic innovation and surgery, clinical practices and research. In 2009, it became the first hospital in western North Carolina to successfully perform a single-incision, laparoscopic total hysterectomy. Wake Forest Baptist gynecologic oncologists are among only a handful of U.S. physicians to offer intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy for women with difficult-to-treat cancers. Wake Forest Baptist also has a Center on Women's Healthcare Quality Assessment, which pools primary care data for researchers and clinicians to evaluate women's healthcare quality.
Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University (Columbus). Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center is repeatedly ranked among the best in Ohio and the country for gynecology and women's health, and its nationally and internationally recognized physicians and researchers both provide the care and train the future wave of women's health specialists. The academic medical center provides some of the most innovative gynecologic treatments, such as endometrial ablation and transcervical sterilization. The Center for Women's Health is the only multidisciplinary women's center in Columbus and offers women care in internal medicine, primary care, endocrinology, gynecology, cardiology and integrative medicine.
Winthrop-University Hospital (Mineola, N.Y.). Winthrop-University Hospital's New Life Center is one of the busiest birthing facilities in Long Island, as more than 5,000 babies are born there every year. Winthrop also has a NAPBC-accredited breast health program, which treats seven different types of breast abnormalities, including inflammatory breast cancer. The Institute for Family Care serves as a hub for other women's healthcare needs, such as the women's resource center for medical information and urogynecologic services.
Woman's Hospital (Baton Rouge, La.). Founded by 19 physicians focused on women's healthcare needs, Woman's Hospital opened its doors in 1968, making it one of the first women's specialty hospitals in the country. It is also the only freestanding, non-profit women's hospital in the United States. Woman's has more than 1,500 total employees, and physicians are spread across several different specialties, including cancer, gynecology, breast care and more. In August 2012, Woman's transferred to its new 168-bed hospital. The main facility has five stories and is one of the preeminent hospitals for women and infants in the Gulf South region.
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (Providence). Women & Infants Hospital — the primary teaching hospital of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and an HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's Health — is the eighth-largest standalone obstetrical facility in the county with roughly 8,400 deliveries every year. It is New England's mainstay for women and newborns, and the hospital offers fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, gynecologic pathology and several other specialty areas. In addition, Women & Infants is a center of biomedical research excellence by the National Institutes of Health.
The Woman's Hospital of Texas (Houston). The 397-bed Woman's Hospital of Texas opened in 1976, and more than 35 years later, it is still one of Texas' leading hospitals for quality treatment of women and newborns. More than 650 board-certified physicians are affiliated or employed at Woman's Hospital, which is part of Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America. The Woman's Hospital of Texas also includes the Clinical Research Center, which is dedicated solely to clinical studies to better women's health and quality of life.
Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. Yale-New Haven Hospital has one of the highest-rated gynecology institutions in the country, according to this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings. The hospital's maternity services include prenatal testing, the world's first newborn special care unit and breastfeeding support. Breast cancer services, urogynecology services, and the women's heart program also are dedicated to the specific health needs of women. The gynecologic cancer program at YNHH's Smilow Cancer Hospital uses a multidisciplinary approach to treat precancerous changes of the vulva, vagina, cervix, Fallopian tubes and other areas.
The Becker's Hospital Review editorial team selected these hospitals based on clinical accolades, quality care and women's health proficiencies and awards. These hospitals have been recognized for excellence in this specialty by several sources, including HHS and its National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health model, U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, the World Health Organization's and UNICEF's Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, Delta Group CareChex and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals or associated healthcare providers. The following content should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute professional medical advice. Hospitals cannot pay to be included on this list and are presented in alphabetical order.
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital (Downers Grove, Ill.). Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital provides Level III obstetric, perinatal and neonatal services within its gynecology and obstetrics program — the highest level of care designated by Illinois. Its Women and Infants Center also provides women with specialized nurses, private birthing suites and an advanced neonatal intensive care unit for high-risk cases. Advocate Good Samaritan oncologists, hematologists and surgeons also treat breast and gynecological cancers through a wide array of procedures, advanced radiation therapies and minimally invasive surgeries.
Anderson Hospital (Cincinnati). Women's health needs are focused along a continuum of care at Anderson Hospital, part of the six-hospital Mercy Health. Anderson Hospital, a "Baby Friendly" institution as rated by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, offers maternity services with a Level II nursery. It also has a women's health center to ensure all patients have the right mix of physicians, nurses and technologists during their visit.
Aspirus Wausau (Wis.) Hospital. Aspirus offers several programs and events for women's health, ranging from free mammograms to specific programs for women's heart, mental, sexual and bone health. Its "Journey to Optimal Health" consultations also allow women to visit with nurse practitioners, who collaborate with primary care physicians and give education and support on women's most essential health needs. Aspirus, a three-time recipient of HealthGrades' maternity care excellence award, also has a state-of-the-art birthing center and newborn intensive care unit.
Aultman Hospital (Canton, Ohio). From the Breast Care Center to the Birth Center, Aultman Hospital's women's health program —a center of excellence and winner of HealthGrades' maternity care excellence award — provides women with several outlets for essential health services. The Breast Care Center, accredited by the American College of Radiology, offers breast screening, diagnostic digital mammography, breast MRI, ultrasound-guided breast core biopsies and other core breast health services.
Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center (Milwaukee). Breast health services, obstetric services, incontinence treatment from a team of urogynecologists and pelvic floor rehabilitation specialists — these offerings make Aurora St. Luke's one of the most comprehensive women's health programs in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists guide women through high-risk pregnancies, and Aurora experts also perform the cutting-edge, minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries as advanced treatment options.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center (Phoenix). Roughly 80 percent of all Banner Health employees are women, and the emphasis on quality women's healthcare services is epitomized at Banner's flagship organization, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Ranked in the top 40 hospital nationally for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report, Banner Good Samaritan offers maternity services, gynecology services, breast health, heart health and educational programs. John Martin, MD, one of Phoenix Magazine's "Top Docs," oversees The Women's Center, which is a center devoted to comprehensive women's health by combining academic training for obstetrics and gynecology residents with board-certified faculty physicians.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the top academic medical centers in the Midwest and country, offers top care throughout all phases of a woman's life — pre-reproductive, child-bearing and menopausal years — through the Washington University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Siteman Cancer Center and other facilities. Other features within the gynecology department include a fetal care center, high-risk pregnancy services and reproductive endocrinology. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Barnes-Jewish 10th in the country in gynecology and is one of the top women's health hospitals in St. Louis.
Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Mich.). Beaumont's women's health center of excellence has some of the leading programs in the nation, including minimally invasive gynecological services, reproductive genetics, the Women's Urology Center (the only multidisciplinary center dedicated to treating female urological incontinence and pelvic pain in the Midwest), the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center and a comprehensive breast care program. In total, Beaumont has more than 125 obstetric and gynecologic specialists and subspecialists, and researchers also conduct several clinical trials on advanced women's health treatments. The hospital is also a Baby-Friendly Hospital, as designated by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center (Mechanicsville, Va.). Bon Secours Memorial and Bon Secours St. Mary's, its sister hospital, were the only two hospitals in the Richmond, Va.-area to receive Magnet status in 2009. Bon Secours Memorial offers some of the most advanced and effective women's health treatments in the area, such as advanced mammography and minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries. The hospital also offers "Love and Learn with Bon Secours," a program that offers classes and education for pregnancy, birth and parenting — one of the largest such programs in Virginia.
Boone Hospital Center (Columbia, Mo.). Since 1921, Boone Hospital Center has been the epicenter for numerous newborns in the mid-Missouri region. The hospital sees roughly 2,000 births per year and has a wide-ranging selection of services as a referral hospital: amniocentesis, digital mammography and other breast health treatments. Boone Hospital's Harris Breast Center, a freestanding structure, is accredited by the American College of Radiology. Last year, CareChex rated Boone Hospital Center 12th in the country for quality in its women's health programs, and the hospital has won the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades the past three years.
Boston Medical Center. The Women's Health Group at Boston Medical Center, established in 1985, was one of the first in the nation to focus exclusively on the unique healthcare needs of women. BMC, designated a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health by HHS, offers a comprehensive array of clinical services for women, including bone health, breast health, comprehensive gynecology, menopause care, mental health, preventive medicine and a program to help women who are victims of violence.
Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). Brigham and Women's Hospital has provided specialized women's healthcare for roughly 175 years, making it not only a leader in women's health programs in the United States but also abroad. Ranked second in the country by U.S. News & World Report in gynecology services, Brigham and Women's also offers several other specialized programs in maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, women's cardiovascular disease, lupus, women's sports medicine and more. In 1976, researchers at Brigham and Women's launched the Nurses' Health Study, one of the largest and longest-running studies of women ever conducted that has led to groundbreaking research in every area of health.
Bryn Mawr (Pa.) Hospital. Part of Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr Hospital offers some of the most extensive women's healthcare within the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Obstetrics and gynecology professionals at the hospital specialize in several areas, including gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, reproductive endocrinology and urogynecology. The Bryn Mawr Center for Reproductive Medicine uses advanced reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization and andrology services, and Bryn Mawr's Care for Female Pelvic Floor Disorders program is one the largest pelvic floor disorder treatment programs in the Philadelphia area.
Carle Foundation Hospital (Urbana, Ill.). The women's health program at Carle Foundation Hospital includes services ranging from obstetrics and gynecology to midwifery and maternal-fetal medicine. Carle's midwifery practice is the largest in downstate Illinois. The hospital also offers minimally invasive treatments, such as da Vinci robotic surgery for complex hysterectomies. With its neonatal intensive care unit, Carle is the only hospital in the region offering Level III perinatal services. In 2011 and 2012, HealthGrades recognized Carle with the Women's Health Excellence Award.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). An esteemed medical center in the Los Angeles area, Cedars-Sinai's women's health programs expand far and wide. The Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center is one of the leading institutes in the country focusing on the treatment and identification of women's heart disease. Cedars-Sinai also offers breast care at the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center, maternity services for the simplest or most complex of pregnancies, obstetrics and gynecologic services that include a specific female pelvic floor health program and an established women's health research registry for clinical trials.
Christiana Hospital (Wilmington, Del.). Christiana Hospital is the only HHS-designated National Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health in its region and consequently has some of the area's leading women's health programs. The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center offers care for breast services and gynecologic oncology, and it is one of the primary breast MRI units within Delaware. High quality measures within its gynecology services also place Christiana as a top hospital within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Cleveland Clinic. Renowned for its heart care, Cleveland Clinic also has a nationally recognized women's health program. It offers one of the only special delivery units in the country — a unit with a team of maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists and others who offer coordinated care for pregnant women and newborns in extremely critical condition. In 2010, Cleveland Clinic researchers at its Lerner Research Institute also developed a prototype vaccine that could prevent breast cancer. Overall, Cleveland Clinic ranks third nationally in gynecology services, according U.S. News & World Report's rankings for 2012-2013.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, N.H.). Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has consistently ranked among the best hospitals in gynecology care, and its massive list of women's health services has set it apart in New Hampshire. In addition to being a Baby-Friendly facility, the hospital has a comprehensive breast program included within its nationally recognized cancer research and treatment center. Dartmouth-Hitchcock's gynecologic oncology division also diagnoses and treats gynecologic cancers, participates in clinical trials and works to advance the understanding of cancer in women.
Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.). Part of Duke Health, Duke University Hospital's multidisciplinary team of women's health physicians and researchers address nearly every health issue a woman can have, from benign gynecologic disorders to complex infectious diseases. Duke's staff of female cardiologists also evaluates women, young and old, for cardiovascular risks. The department of obstetrics and gynecology was established in 1931, and it sees more than 85,000 specialty and subspecialty outpatients annually. This past year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke as the eighth best hospital in the nation for gynecology services.
EMH Elyria (Ohio) Medical Center. For the past four years, the 387-bed, three-campus hospital has received the HealthGrades Women's Health Excellence Award, ranking it among the top 5 percent in the nation for women's health. EMH's women's health programs focus on every stage of a woman's life and place extra emphasis on preventive measures such as yearly gynecology exams. There are four main physicians within EMH's women's health program, and they also provide services in urogynecology and minimally invasive surgeries when needed.
Emory University Hospital (Atlanta). Emory University Hospital's women's health program includes the basic gynecology and obstetrics services, but it also has a breast health center, women's heart center and reproductive center. Top reproductive endocrinologists treat a wide range of medical issues, including polycystic ovary syndrome, stress-induced infertility and more, and Emory physicians also perform uterine fibroid embolization — a minimally invasive alternative to hysterectomies. Last year, the hospital was ranked 22nd by U.S. News & World Report for gynecology, and in 2010, eight Emory gynecologists were named "Top Doctors" by Atlanta Magazine.
Evanston (Ill.) Hospital. Clinical outcomes in the gynecology and obstetrics divisions of Evanston Hospital, and parent organization NorthShore University HealthSystem, have consistently ranked favorably compared with other similar institutions across the country. The hospital's Caesarean section rate is far lower than the average institution within the National Perinatal Information Center's 2011 database. Evanston Hospital serves as the primary NorthShore site for maternal-fetal medicine services and also serves as a teaching hub for the University of Chicago Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship training program. Evanston Hospital also serves as a regional perinatal network hospital for northeastern Illinois, meaning high-risk mothers and high-risk babies are transferred to Evanston to receive care in its infant special care unit.
Fairview Southdale Hospital (Edina, Minn.). Fairview Southdale Hospital offers comprehensive women's healthcare within the Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services. Its maternal-fetal medicine team has the only physician in Minnesota who is dually trained in maternal-fetal medicine and clinical genetics, and the hospital's maternal-fetal medicine centers are part of the University of Minnesota National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Fairview Southdale's breast center is also an American College of Radiology-designated breast imaging center of excellence.
Flagler Hospital (St. Augustine, Fla.). Flagler Hospital would be nothing without women. Henry Flagler, the hospital's namesake, brought together the most influential women in St. Augustine in 1888 to plan a hospital for the community. The women accepted the challenge and consequently helped formulate Flagler Hospital, which opened in 1890. The hospital is now seen as a beacon for women's health in the area, receiving HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award every year since 2010. Flagler Hospital has a maternity services center of excellence, which provides childbirth preparation classes and private postpartum suites, and it also provides digital mammography and a breast cancer patient navigator program.
Florida Hospital (Orlando). The flagship hospital of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System, Florida Hospital's roots to women's health services go back to its establishment. One of the first female physicians in the United States helped found Florida Hospital in 1908, and its Women's Center is a cornerstone of care, just as it was when the hospital opened. Services at the Women's Center include cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, digestive, imaging, maternity and obstetrics, breastfeeding support, menopause counseling, minimally invasive surgery, gynecology, orthopedics and more.
Glendale (Calif.) Memorial Hospital and Health Center. In July 2005, Glendale Memorial, part of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, was the first hospital in Los Angeles County to be designated a Baby-Friendly hospital. It provides private birthing suites for patients with a Level II neonatal intensive care unit nearby for high-risk pregnancies. Glendale Memorial also has a certified comprehensive perinatal services program, deemed by the California Department of Public Health, which incorporates basic obstetrical care and other women's health services for low-income pregnant women.
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center (La Crosse, Wis.). Gundersen Lutheran offers many women's health services unique to its region and is ranked in the top 15 in the nation for women's health quality, according to CareChex's 2012 ratings. Its Fertility Center is the only one in the area to offer an in-vitro fertilization program, and it also has the first and largest midwifery program in Wisconsin. Gundersen Lutheran has the La Crosse region's only board-certified, full-time perinatologist who can work with high-risk pregnancies. The Avery R. Gundersen Center for Women in Gundersen Lutheran's Onalaska Clinic is the newest component of the hospital's women's health program, as it brings a range of clinical services — ranging from obstetrics and gynecology to educational programming — into one location.
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. Within Hackensack University Medical Center is the Donna A. Sanzari Women's Hospital, which opened in 2009. The hospital has 14 private labor, delivery and recovery rooms, 60 private mother-baby rooms and a maternal-fetal medicine perinatal diagnostic unit. The department of obstetrics and gynecology has more than 100 physicians, and it is a designated training site for the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, which has been used to treat various benign and cancerous gynecologic conditions. From 2010 through 2012, HealthGrades presented HackensackUMC with the Women's Health Excellence Award, and the hospital also ranks in the top 50 by CareChex for women's health quality.
Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach (Fla.). The 944-bed hospital's Center for Oncology offers the area's only gynecologic oncology services. In addition, the Board of the Fellowship in Gynecologic Endoscopy approved Halifax Health in 2008 as the first program in Florida to participate in the gynecologic endoscopy fellowship program, which provides top training for laparoscopic and robotic surgeries in gynecology cases. Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach is also an area leader in obstetrics, delivering more than 2,000 babies every year, and it has the area's only obstetrics emergency department.
Hutzel Women's Hospital (Detroit). Founded in 1868, Hutzel Women's Hospital, which is part of Detroit Medical Center and Harper University Hospital, is the second-oldest hospital in Detroit. Seven women helped create the hospital after the Civil War, and since then, it has become one of the most recognized women's health centers in the country. It is home to several medical firsts in women's health: In 1909, it established Michigan's first research lab devoted to studying "the diseases of women;" Michigan's first successful in vitro births were born at Hutzel in 1984; and in 2002, it became a pioneer organization for treating women with polyscystic ovarian syndrome who have infertility problems.
Hartford (Conn.) Hospital. Hartford Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Connecticut, is one of the top birthing centers in the state. It delivers more than 4,000 babies every year and has a nationally recognized residency program in obstetrics and gynecology. Hartford Hospital — a three-time recipient of HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award and a Baby-Friendly Hospital — also participates in the national Gynecology Oncology Groups, an organization that aims to promote clinical and scientific research in the field of gynecologic malignancies.
Holy Cross Hospital (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Holy Cross Hospital has a unique women's center — the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women's Center — designed for women and by women. The Jeane M. Dorini Women's Imaging and Diagnostic Suite, designated a breast imaging center of excellence by the American College of Radiology, offers digital mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound exams. The hospital also offers several other outpatient treatments, including a specialized osteoporosis program.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). Penn Medicine's flagship facility is a mainstay of women's health programs in the Philadelphia area, offering care in several different areas in the Helen O. Dickens Center for Women's Health: OB/GYN, behavioral health, breast health, cardiac care, cancer care, orthopedic care and more. HUP — ranked 23rd in the country for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report this year — also has the only reproductive research laboratory in the Philadelphia region, as it also works with the Women's Health Clinical Research Center and Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center.
Huntington Hospital (Pasadena, Calif.). Founded in 1892, Huntington Hospital has given its women's health program a comprehensive focus since the doors first opened. Roughly 1,000 gynecological surgeries are performed at the hospital each year using state-of-the-art minimally invasive and hysteroscopic technologies. Its Huntington-Hill Breast Center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons' National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers — one of the few in the Los Angeles area and throughout the country. HealthGrades has given its Women's Health Excellence Award to Huntington Hospital in each of the past three years.
Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital/University Hospital (Indianapolis). In addition to general obstetrical and gynecologic care, IU Health Methodist and University Hospitals, the downtown Indianapolis flagship of IU Health, employs Indiana's largest staff of maternal-fetal medicine physicians who specialize in high-risk pregnancies. A Magnet-hospital with a Baby-Friendly designation, IU Health Methodist/University also offers some of the most advanced urogynecologic services in the state, and physicians and researchers are actively involved in research and education for new and innovative women's health treatments at the IU Health Methodist Research Institute.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital (Harvey, Ill.). Ingalls Memorial Hospital, based in the south suburbs of Chicago, offers a full range of services for women and their families. The hospital's breast care has received numerous accolades: The Richard K. Desser, MD, Comprehensive Breast Center is accredited through the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers — the first hospital in the south Chicago to achieve the designation — and it also offers access to more than 50 active cancer research studies. Ingalls Memorial Hospital also was the first community hospital in the area to offer uterine fibroid embolization to treat uterine fibroid tumors.
Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Va.). Inova Fairfax Hospital has one of the largest and busiest obstetrics programs in the Washington, D.C., area, and it also offers the area's largest gynecology program with expertise in gynecologic oncology. In addition to its Level III neonatal intensive care unit, Inova Fairfax offers one of the largest teams of infertility and reproductive endocrinology specialists in the region. The hospital also sponsors the InovaCares Clinic for Women, which provides outpatient prenatal and gynecological charity care for indigent patients who live in Fairfax County.
Jersey Shore University Medical Center (Neptune, N.J.). Jersey Shore University Medical Center's women's health program centers around five main services: a breast care program, the Perricone Center for Gynecologic Oncology, maternity, the Perinatal Institute and a pelvic reconstructive surgery and urogynecology program. JSUMC's team of obstetricians and gynecologists work closely with the K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital, also in Neptune, for maternity and perinatal services, and it is one of the only hospitals in the area that offers water birth options for women.
Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore). Few women's health programs compare to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Specific care centers for women's cardiovascular health, mood disorders, pelvic health and more set the hospital apart, and Johns Hopkins' department of gynecology and obstetrics offers world-renowned care for women seeking fertility, gynecological oncology and maternity services. Since 1995, Johns Hopkins has also hosted its annual women's health conference, A Woman's Journey, which features seminars taught by Johns Hopkins faculty physicians and scientists. Women are able to hear first-hand about the different advances and research in women's health medical specialties.
Kaiser Permanente Downey (Calif.) Medical Center. Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center, a 352-bed hospital that opened in fall 2009 and cost $390 million, replaced Kaiser's Bellflower Medical Center, which was 44 years old at the time. A Baby-Friendly facility that helps with more than 1,700 births annually, Downey Medical Center offers women the latest treatments and procedures in gynecology and obstetrics in state-of-the-art operating rooms and private suites. In 2012, CareChex rated Downey Medical Center a top 20 hospital for women's health quality.
Keck Hospital of the University of Southern California (Los Angeles). Keck Hospital of the USC's women's health program provides dedicated care with its academic medical center environment. The Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center offers the latest diagnoses, treatments, reconstruction, counseling, imaging and after-care help in one location, and Keck Hospital has a clinic for women's cancers and a fertility division within the Keck School of Medicine. Keck Hospital also offers comprehensive reproductive health services in an outpatient setting.
Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital. Within Lancaster General Hospital is the Women & Babies Hospital, a facility that opened in 2000 and focuses completely on the healthcare needs of women in the region. Physicians at the hospital deliver more than 4,000 babies per year, more than any other in Lancaster County, and the Suzanne H. Arnold Center for Breast Health was the first breast cancer program in the county to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Lancaster General's Women & Babies Hospital is also the only woman's hospital in the area to have a da Vinci Surgical System for outpatient and inpatient surgeries.
LDS Hospital (Salt Lake City). For more than 100 years, LDS Hospital, part of Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare, has been a leader in the state for obstetrics, gynecology and breast care. LDS Hospital also offers preventive, diagnostic and treatment services related to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, urology, obesity management and cosmetic surgery. The hospital's women's and newborn program assists in roughly 3,200 births every year, and the hospital's overall gynecology program was ranked in the top 30 nationally this year by U.S. News & World Report.
Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC (Pittsburgh). Part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Magee-Womens Hospital was one of first National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health recognized by HHS, and the pioneering women's hospital has now been operating for 101 years. Its Magee-Womens Research Institute, founded in 1992, is also the first research center in the United States that exclusively studies women and infant health conditions. Roughly 10,000 babies are born at Magee every year, and 500,000 babies have been born since the hospital opened in 1911. Its nationally renowned clinical programs cover breast cancer, lupus, gynecology, fetal surgery, gynecologic cancers and more.
Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). Massachusetts General Hospital's department of obstetrics and gynecology originally began as the Vincent Memorial Hospital, which focused on treating sick and indigent women. Isaac Schiff, MD, has been the chief of MGH's department of obstetrics and gynecology since 1988, and during those two-plus decades, the hospital has become a leader in advancing the science and quality of care for women. This past February, MGH researchers were able to isolate egg-producing stem cells from the ovaries of reproductive age women and showed that the cells can produce normal egg cells or oocytes, which are immature egg cells. Overall, MGH ranks as the top overall hospital in the United States and sixth overall for gynecology services, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Excellence in patient care has been a staple at Mayo Clinic for decades now, and its women's health programs are no different. In fact, U.S. News & World Report ranked Mayo Clinic as the best hospital in the country when it comes to gynecology services. The department of obstetrics and gynecology offers some of the most advanced gynecologic specialty services and pregnancy services in the country, and Mayo Clinic researchers stay at the forefront of women's health breakthroughs. Also in 2011, Mayo Clinic established the Women's Health Research Center, which builds on the system's strong base of women's health-related research and complements the system's women's cancer program, breast services, women's heart services and more.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (Washington, D.C.). Between its Betty Lou Ourisman Breast Health Center, department of obstetrics and gynecology and neonatal intensive care unit, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital provides women in the metropolitan D.C. area with some of the most expansive women's health services. In an unusual feat last year, Georgetown University Hospital physicians helped a mother who had previously received a small bowel transplant deliver her baby in an uncomplicated pregnancy — only the second time the situation successfully occurred in the United States.
Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center (Houston). Within the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center stands Women's Memorial Hermann, a hospital devoted solely to helping women of all ages. The hospital partners with the University of Texas Medical School at Houston for maternal-fetal medicine. Memorial City Medical Center is also the first hospital in south Texas to offer 3-D mammography, which is housed in its Bobetta Lindig Breast Center.
Mercy Hospital (Miami). One of only a handful of hospitals to receive HealthGrades' excellence awards in both women's health (2010, 2011 and 2012) and maternity care (2010), Mercy Hospital provides some of the most extensive medical care for women in the Miami region. The hospital's Women's Center provides patients with high-grade diagnostic imaging services, and Mercy Hospital's maternity ward physicians deliver more than 1,400 babies each year. Additionally, the hospital provides in-depth pre- and post-natal education for expectant parents.
Meriter Hospital (Madison, Wis.). The 448-bed Meriter Hospital offers evaluation, treatment and procedures for a variety of women's health issues, ranging from perinatal care to women's heart care. Meriter's Generations Fertility Care is a joint venture between the hospital and the University of Wisconsin Health and has some of the leading reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists in the Madison area. The hospital's Center for Perinatal Care, a joint program with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, also offers extensive services to women with complicated, pregnancy-related medical problems.
The Methodist Hospital (Houston). Women's health programs usually involve the hospital's gynecology, obstetrics and breast care departments, but The Methodist Hospital views "women's healthcare from a broader perspective, offering general wellness and illness programs tailored specifically to women," according to its website. In addition to wellness programs, The Methodist Hospital has a Center for Restorative Pelvic Medicine within its division of urogynecology to provide comprehensive treatment for women's pelvic floor disorders. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital 20th for gynecology.
Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center. Recipient of two Women's Health Excellence Awards in the past two years from HealthGrades, Morristown Medical Center — part of Morristown-based Atlantic Health System — has an extensive women's health program. It has a breast center, women's cancer center and specialty center to increase awareness about arthritis and osteoporosis in women in addition to midlife health and urogynecology services. MMC, which U.S. News & World Report ranked among the top 40 hospitals this year for gynecology services, also has a state-of-the-art maternity center that includes a 56-bed nursery and 54 private rooms in which mothers and babies can stay together at all hours of the day.
The Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City). The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for gynecologic services, but the New York City hospital also offers gastroenterology, cardiovascular services, dermatology, breast health, cancer screening and mental health services specifically for women. The hospital is also a renowned teaching and research facility and has made several advances in women's healthcare treatments. Three years ago, researchers with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, which is affiliated with the hospital, discovered that injecting a new class of molecules into a specific oncogene could lead to the elimination of tumor cells associated with ovarian cancer — the most lethal of all gynecologic cancers in the United States.
Munson Medical Center (Traverse City, Mich.). From 2010 to 2012, Munson Medical Center has won HealthGrades' Women's Health Excellence Award. The hospital, known for its lower rates of mortality across nine different heart conditions, offers heart disease screenings and information online for patients to learn about proper heart health. MMC also has a breast health coordinator available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide women in northern Michigan with information and guidance on issues they may be having with breast cancer or general breast health.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York City). NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a vanguard not only for women's health but also for the women's movement in general. In 1887, its Sloane Maternity Hospital became New York City's first medical facility devoted to women's health. In 1946, it named Connie Guion, MD, as the first woman professor of clinical medicine in the United States. To this day, NewYork-Presbyterian offers nationally recognized care across gynecology, obstetrics, reproductive medicine and other areas at the Iris Cantor Women's Health Center and other centers of excellence around the campus. U.S. News & World Report ranked NewYork-Presbyterian 17th in the nation for gynecology services this year.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Considered to be one of the best hospitals in Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital's women's health services are completely housed in its Prentice Women's Hospital within its downtown campus. It provides comprehensive care across several areas for women: pregnancy and newborn care, primary and gynecologic care, women's heart health, female-specific cancers, aging diseases such as Alzheimer's and other movement disorders and counseling services. The Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care — named after the late Maggie Daley, wife of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley — is one of the premier women's cancer programs in the country, offering women access to more than 100 clinical trials.
NYU Langone Medical Center (New York City). NYU Langone Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology is composed of eight divisions: epidemiology, family planning, global women's health, gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, obstetric and gynecologic ultrasound, reproductive endocrinology and infertility and urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery. James Grifo, MD, PhD, is the director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility — a major research hub — and has pioneered women's health innovations such as the preimplantation genetic diagnosis. NYU Langone's division of global women's health is an international women's health advocate, partnering with various local academic and medical centers is sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.
Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans). Ochsner Medical Center's women's services covers 15 different areas, from gynecologic robotic surgery to anesthesiology. The Ochsner Vulva Center is a unique clinic within the gynecology department that specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of vulvovaginal problems. This year, Ochsner was ranked 22nd in the country for gynecology by U.S. News & World Report and received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades. The Magnet-designated facility also has 24 nurses — many within the labor and delivery departments — who are among the "Great 100 Nurses of Louisiana."
Oregon Health & Science University Hospital (Portland). OHSU Hospital's Center for Women's Health is the only HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's health in the Northwest, receiving the designation in 2003. The 560-bed hospital's gynecologic oncology team was the first group in Oregon dedicated to treating gynecologic malignancies as a partner with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. OHSU Hospital, which is an important research center for various women's diseases, is also ranked as the top hospital in the Portland metropolitan area and the state of Oregon, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2012-2013 rankings.
Parkland Memorial Hospital (Dallas). Parkland Memorial Hospital was the first hospital to have a neonatal intensive care unit in Dallas County, and its neonatal team oversees 300 high-risk deliveries every month. Parkland is one of the busiest obstetrics centers in the country, with more than 15,000 deliveries every year. In total, Parkland is affiliated with 10 different women's health centers and clinics throughout the county, offering gynecologic, family planning and preventive care in a more local setting.
Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia). In 1803, a little more than 50 years after the hospital's founding, Pennsylvania Hospital established a "lying-in," also known as a maternity department — the first recognized specialty at the hospital and one of the first maternity departments in the country. Today, Pennsylvania Hospital, part of Penn Medicine, offers an integrated women's health program with several specialty services and OB/GYN care. The Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital is a leader in Philadelphia in integrated breast cancer care and gynecologic oncology. Thomas Randall, MD, and Patricia Ford, MD, are co-directors of the hospital's and cancer center's gynecologic oncology program.
Rex Hospital (Raleigh, N.C.). Rex Hospital, the flagship facility of Rex Healthcare and part of UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill, N.C., works in conjunction with healthcare providers from the University of North Carolina Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and North Carolina Women's Hospital to offer high-quality care for women in Raleigh and Wake County. The UNC Specialty Women's Center at Rex offers services in gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery. With 40 private rooms, Rex Women's Center provides comfort for women during their pregnancies, and the hospital delivers more babies than any other hospital in North Carolina's Triangle region, which includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). The department of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA Medical Center has a long tradition of accomplishment and is considered by U.S. News & World Report to be the best in Southern California and the West Coast. Several storied women's health researchers and physicians worked extensively at UCLA, including Nickolas Assali, MD, W.J. Dignam, MD, and J.G. Moore, MD. The Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center, which specializes in preventive care for women, is a National Center of Excellence.
Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). Women of all ages are able to receive thorough care at Rush University Medical Center, which is the teaching hospital of Rush University and one of the top academic medical centers in Chicago. Rush's Heart Center for Women, the first heart program in Chicago devoted exclusively to women, offers virtually every heart treatment option. The Rush Breast Imaging Center is also part of the hospital's Comprehensive Breast Cancer Clinic. Rush has a unique sports medicine program designed specifically for female athletes. Kathleen Weber, MD, a team physician for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, heads the women's sports medicine program.
Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital. Sarasota Memorial Hospital would not be standing without the dedicated women of the community. In 1921, women residents of Sarasota raised money to fund the first hospital in the area, and in 1925, Sarasota Hospital opened as a 32-bed facility. Today, the hospital provides high-quality women's health programs, ranging from gynecological cancer to pain management, and it is the only hospital in the four-county region to have an intensive care nursery for new mothers. James Fiorica, MD, leads Sarasota Memorial's women's cancer specialty program, which is a collaboration of primary care physicians, gynecologists and obstetricians to ensure women have access to local cancer treatments.
Scottsdale (Ariz.) Healthcare Shea Medical Center. The 433-bed Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, the largest hospital within Scottsdale Healthcare, is the central hub for women's health services in the Scottsdale region. For the past two years, the hospital has received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades, thanks in large part to its women's heart health program. Scottsdale Healthcare Shea's heart program focuses on preventive heart care and routine checkups, and it reinforces the health system's philosophy on health for women: to improve the health status of women in the community through education, prevention and the use of screening, diagnostic testing and early intervention.
Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas (Calif.). Out of all the women's health services at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, the hospital is best known for its Leichtag Family Birth Pavilion, which is San Diego County's first Baby-Friendly birth pavilion. Mothers-to-be receive quality care within the hospital's maternity unit, and there is a six-bed, Level II neonatal intensive care nursery nearby for infants who have special health needs following birth. Several minimally invasive surgeries are also available. In 2010, 68 percent of women having a hysterectomy at Scripps had the procedure using minimally invasive technology, which is more than double the national average of 33 percent for that type of surgery.
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Part of LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore's women's health center of excellence provides a full range of obstetric and gynecologic services as well as support services and programs. The Louis and Henrietta Blaustein Women's Health Center opened in 2005 and provides state-of-the-art care to expectant mothers and newborns, and in total, the hospital oversees more than 3,000 deliveries annually. Some of Sinai Hospital's specific women's health support programs include the Women, Children & Youth HIV program, the perinatal depression outreach program and the perinatal addictions specialist services.
Spartanburg (S.C.). Regional Medical Center. Spartanburg Regional Medical Center is a "premier" member of the Spirit of Women Health Network, which is a hospital coalition committed to women's health. Within the hospital's women's health program is the Bearden-Josey Center for Breast Health — the only complete breast imaging center in South Carolina's "Upcountry." The breast center has digital mammography, is accredited by the American College of Radiology and has four different mammogram locations. Spartanburg Regional also has a HeartCaring program, which empowers women with knowledge and resources to reduce their risks for heart disease.
Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Women's health has been a staple at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital since its earliest days in the 19th century. In 1890, Butterworth Hospital completed the construction of its hospital, and obstetrics and gynecology were two of the major clinical divisions. The hospital, ranked 21st in the country this year by U.S. News & World Report for gynecology, also delivers more than 8,000 babies each year — more than any other hospital in Michigan. Its Family Birthplace gives women special attention to genetics, infertility, maternal-fetal medicine, postpartum depression and all other essential aspects of family planning.
SSM St. Clare Health Center (Fenton, Mo.). St. Clare Health Center, part of St. Louis-based SSM Health, was established in 2009 and has already garnered attention for its women's health initiatives. The hospital — rated in the top 15 for women's health by CareChex for 2012 — recorded more than 1,400 births in 2011 and has state-of-the-art private maternity suites for all expectant mothers. Obstetrical care includes advanced testing and procedures, such as continuous fetal monitoring and amniocentesis and external cephalic version. St. Clare's breast center also provides comprehensive services for women through a multidisciplinary team of mammography technicians, nurse navigators and breast surgeons.
St. Elizabeth Edgewood (Ky.). From breast care to heart programs and from osteoporosis services to preventive care, St. Elizabeth Edgewood has a firm grasp on women's wellness services. Henrietta Cleveland, a local resident, and three nuns from Germany actually laid the foundation for St. Elizabeth in 1861 after realizing the greater Cincinnati area needed more hospital services. The hospital's recently expanded and renovated Family Birth Place features 33 labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum suites, and St. Elizabeth Edgewood was named one of the top 10 places in America to have a baby by Fit Pregnancy Magazine.
St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center (Syracuse, N.Y.). At the center of St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center's women services is its maternity care, as it is the only hospital in central New York to be designated as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. The hospital has a mother-baby unit for new mom's to sleep with their newborns, which can decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. St. Joseph's also has primary care centers and surgery centers that focus on gynecological surgery, breast health and osteoporosis screening.
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (Houston). St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is considered to be one of the top heart hospitals in the country this year by U.S. News & World Report, and the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's specially caters to women, considering heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. St. Luke's services also include hormone-replacement therapy, gynecological and menopause-related issues, cancer treatment, incontinence and weight management. St. Luke's surgeons are leaders in minimally invasive surgical alternatives to hysterectomies and other gynecologic procedures.
St. Luke's Hospital (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Three out of four babies in the Cedar Rapids region are born at St. Luke's Hospital, which has won the HealthGrades Women's Health Excellence Award in each of the past three years. It also has the only regional Level II newborn intensive care unit in the community. When it comes to breast care, St. Luke's has a team of registered nurses who have received training through the Oncology Nursing Society and were among the first in the country to become certified breast care nurses.
St. Vincent Women's Hospital (Indianapolis). Health insurer Humana originally founded St. Vincent Women's Hospital in 1983, and the Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health acquired the hospital in 2003. Currently, St. Vincent Women's Hospital is central Indiana's only dedicated women's hospital — and the largest comprehensive women's health service facility in Indiana overall — and it encompasses 48 private rooms and a 78-bed Level III newborn intensive care unit. The hospital also has the largest group of maternal-fetal medicine physicians in Indiana. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked St. Vincent 18th in the country for gynecology services, and also this year, the hospital received the Women's Health Excellence Award from HealthGrades.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Palo Alto, Calif.). Women's health at Stanford involves several integrated areas, including cardiology, clinical research studies, female sexual medicine, neurology, urogynecology and many more. The Stanford Women's Cancer Center provides world-class care for women with breast and gynecologic cancers, and Stanford is renowned for cancer trials and innovations. Lynn Westphal, MD, is the director of women's health at Stanford, and she started one of the first oocyte cryopreservation programs in the country, solidifying herself as a leader in facilitating fertility preservation for cancer survivors.
Strong Memorial Hospital (Rochester, N.Y.). Strong Memorial Hospital is the 739-bed teaching hospital for the University of Rochester School of Medicine and the University of Rochester Medical Center. Hospital-based services for women range across the entire medical center and include maternity, fertility, breast care, general fitness for women and heart health. The Women's Health and the Environment over the Entire Lifespan, or WHEEL, is a junior faculty training program funded through the National Institutes of Health that aims to see how exposure to environmental chemicals affects men and women differently and how environmental factors particularly fits within the scope of women's health.
Sutter Medical Center (Sacramento, Calif.). Comprised of three campuses and the flagship of Sutter Health, Sutter Medical Center offers women in the Sacramento Sierra region comprehensive primary and advanced care throughout their life spans. Sutter Medical Center delivers more babies than any other hospital in the region. The hospital is also in the process of a major expansion project, which includes the 242-bed Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center. The facility will focus primarily on acute-care services, and Sutter Medical Center CEO Carrie Owen Plietz said it will be "among the finest hospitals for birthing and children's services in the state."
Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. Tampa General Hospital's Women's Center has 21 labor/delivery suites, four C-section rooms, four gynecology operating rooms, an ultrasound suite and an in vitro fertilization laboratory. The IVF program is based at TGH and is part of the University of South Florida. TGH's breast health program offers some of the most advanced services in the Tampa area to treat breast abnormalities, including digital mammography, breast MRI, breast ultrasound, biopsies, cyst aspirations and galactography. Last year, U.S. News & World Report named TGH to its top 50 hospitals in the country for gynecology care.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia). Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is nestled within one of the premier academic medical centers in the Philadelphia area. Women's health services at Jefferson include breast health, cardiovascular care, urology, mental health, domestic violence awareness, obstetrics and gynecology, epilepsy, sleep, bone health and integrative medicine. Jefferson is the only hospital in the region to offer Cool Cap therapy for newborns who need additional oxygen — Cool Cap therapy reduces brain activity, which allows time for recovery and reduces brain damage. The hospital's epilepsy program is also a unique initiative that focuses on the association of seizures and menses as well as sexual function and fertility in epilepsy.
University Hospital (Ann Arbor, Mich.). The women's health program at University Hospital and the University of Michigan Health System is an HHS National Center of Excellence. Last year, the University of Michigan department of obstetrics and gynecology moved into the new 12-story C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital — a facility featuring a new birthing center as well as specialty inpatient and outpatient services for women. Overall, UM's women's health program covers dozens of areas, including genetic counseling, gynecologic urology, in vitro fertilization, cervical and other gynecologic cancers and care for women with developmental disabilities.
University Hospital (Salt Lake City). University Hospital is the flagship hospital of the University of Utah Health Care, the only academic medical center in the Salt Lake City area. Women's health services are a central focus for both the University of Utah research team as well as the hospital's physicians. The University of Utah department of obstetrics and gynecology has set the standard in the Salt Lake region for comprehensive prenatal care and is a leader for women in labor and delivery, maternal-fetal medicine and gastroenterology.
University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital (Cleveland). UH MacDonald is a teaching and research-based hospital within the UH system, and it was founded as Maternity Hospital of Cleveland in 1891. It is the only hospital in Ohio dedicated to women's health, with services ranging from egg donation and in vitro fertilization to maternal-fetal medicine and specialty women's surgeries. UH MacDonald is a Level III regional perinatal center, the highest classification available to hospitals offering maternity services. This past June, the hospital was selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Within UAB Hospital is the UAB Women & Infants Center, which houses comprehensive services in gynecologic surgery, high-risk pregnancies, infertility services, women's cancer and more. UAB Hospital is the only hospital in Alabama where maternal-fetal medicine physicians are available in-house for female patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. G. Wright Bates, MD, associate professor and director of UAB's division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility won the "Best Fertility Specialist" award in 2012 for the second straight year, according to the Parent's Choice Awards.
University of California San Francisco Medical Center. UCSF Medical Center, one of the premier academic medical centers in the country, has an extensive list of women's health services and is an HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Breast cancer, dozens of gynecological conditions, seven types of gynecologic cancer, incontinence and other women's health issues are treated at UCSF Medical Center. One of the most unique aspects of the hospital is the UCSF Women's Health Clinical Research Center. Created in 2001, the research center strengthens clinical and teaching programs in women's health through interdisciplinary research programs, junior faculty training in clinical research and a fellowship in clinical research methods.
University of California Irvine Medical Center (Orange). The Women's Healthcare Center at UC Irvine Medical Center is one of the top centers of consultative and treatment services for women in Orange County. UC Irvine Medical Center is a hub for advanced research and technology, including for women's health issues. It was the first healthcare facility in the nation to use OxiFirst to monitor newborns' oxygen saturation levels while still in the mother's birth canal, and this practice has helped reduce the number of Caesarean sections for women. UC Irvine physician Scott Goodwin, MD, is one of the pioneers of uterine fibroid embolization, which involves threading a catheter from a woman's femoral artery to the uterine arteries as an alternative to invasive surgery.
University of Chicago Medical Center. The University of Chicago Medical Center's focus on women's health services is among the best in Chicago and the Midwest. The hospital is one of 10 regional perinatal centers in Illinois and serves as a referral center for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. The University of Chicago also has its Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine for Women and Girls with Cancer, which is designed to identify, prevent and treat sexual health problems in female cancer patients and survivors. PRISM is the first program in Illinois and one of few in the country to devote resources specifically to these sexual health problems for women.
University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City). Ranked by U.S. News & World Report this year as the best hospital in the Kansas City metropolitan area, the University of Kansas Hospital comprehensive women's health program revolves heavily around its cancer and women's cardiac care. Carol Fabian, MD, a breast medical oncologist and a professor of internal medicine, founded the University of Kansas Hospital's Breast Cancer Prevention Center. The Adelaide C. Ward Women's Heart Health Center opened in March 2012 to develop services, consultations, education, support groups and other programs for women with heart disease.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas). UT Southwestern's physicians have offered comprehensive gynecology, obstetrics, women's wellness and several specialized programs for more than 40 years. The Lowe Foundation Center for Women's Preventative Health Care gives pre- and postmenopausal women an outlet for integrated healthcare, and UT Southwestern's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center serves as a refuge for women suffering from various types of gender-specific cancer. UT Southwestern also has one of the largest divisions of urogynecology in the country.
University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.). Reproductive medicine, pregnancy and delivery, female pelvic floor disorders, female teen health — the University of Virginia Medical Center covers a wide range of women's health issues. UVA is one of only 12 hospitals recognized by the Virginia Department of Health for its support to breastfeeding mothers, and it also has the region's only program for women who are at high risk for breast and ovarian cancers. UVA researchers are also involved in the UVA Mammography Project, a study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense that aims to help create a risk model that personalizes breast cancer screening recommendations.
University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). U.S. News & World Report recently ranked UW Medical Center 34th in the country in gynecology, and the Magnet-rated hospital also has highly touted services in obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, gynecologic cancer care and vulvovaginal disorders. UW Medical Center and UW Medicine researchers were also instrumental in the development of the human papilloma virus vaccine. HPV is the virus that can lead to cervical cancer. Laura Koutsky, MD, helped lead the study to test the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, and the findings led to the FDA approval of Gardasil.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Vanderbilt's women's health program covers millions of women located throughout Nashville and the Southeast. The department of obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt provides prenatal care and delivery services to roughly 3,300 women per year, and roughly 500 women are treated for tertiary, high-risk labor and delivery care. Howard Jones III, MD, is a chairman of VUMC's department of obstetrics and gynecology, and he has described the hospital's fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery for women's health procedures as one of only about 25 in the country. The fellowship is in its second year and has one of the highest case numbers when compared with similar programs in the country.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology is among the leaders in gynecologic innovation and surgery, clinical practices and research. In 2009, it became the first hospital in western North Carolina to successfully perform a single-incision, laparoscopic total hysterectomy. Wake Forest Baptist gynecologic oncologists are among only a handful of U.S. physicians to offer intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy for women with difficult-to-treat cancers. Wake Forest Baptist also has a Center on Women's Healthcare Quality Assessment, which pools primary care data for researchers and clinicians to evaluate women's healthcare quality.
Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University (Columbus). Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center is repeatedly ranked among the best in Ohio and the country for gynecology and women's health, and its nationally and internationally recognized physicians and researchers both provide the care and train the future wave of women's health specialists. The academic medical center provides some of the most innovative gynecologic treatments, such as endometrial ablation and transcervical sterilization. The Center for Women's Health is the only multidisciplinary women's center in Columbus and offers women care in internal medicine, primary care, endocrinology, gynecology, cardiology and integrative medicine.
Winthrop-University Hospital (Mineola, N.Y.). Winthrop-University Hospital's New Life Center is one of the busiest birthing facilities in Long Island, as more than 5,000 babies are born there every year. Winthrop also has a NAPBC-accredited breast health program, which treats seven different types of breast abnormalities, including inflammatory breast cancer. The Institute for Family Care serves as a hub for other women's healthcare needs, such as the women's resource center for medical information and urogynecologic services.
Woman's Hospital (Baton Rouge, La.). Founded by 19 physicians focused on women's healthcare needs, Woman's Hospital opened its doors in 1968, making it one of the first women's specialty hospitals in the country. It is also the only freestanding, non-profit women's hospital in the United States. Woman's has more than 1,500 total employees, and physicians are spread across several different specialties, including cancer, gynecology, breast care and more. In August 2012, Woman's transferred to its new 168-bed hospital. The main facility has five stories and is one of the preeminent hospitals for women and infants in the Gulf South region.
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (Providence). Women & Infants Hospital — the primary teaching hospital of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and an HHS-designated National Center of Excellence in Women's Health — is the eighth-largest standalone obstetrical facility in the county with roughly 8,400 deliveries every year. It is New England's mainstay for women and newborns, and the hospital offers fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, gynecologic pathology and several other specialty areas. In addition, Women & Infants is a center of biomedical research excellence by the National Institutes of Health.
The Woman's Hospital of Texas (Houston). The 397-bed Woman's Hospital of Texas opened in 1976, and more than 35 years later, it is still one of Texas' leading hospitals for quality treatment of women and newborns. More than 650 board-certified physicians are affiliated or employed at Woman's Hospital, which is part of Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America. The Woman's Hospital of Texas also includes the Clinical Research Center, which is dedicated solely to clinical studies to better women's health and quality of life.
Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. Yale-New Haven Hospital has one of the highest-rated gynecology institutions in the country, according to this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings. The hospital's maternity services include prenatal testing, the world's first newborn special care unit and breastfeeding support. Breast cancer services, urogynecology services, and the women's heart program also are dedicated to the specific health needs of women. The gynecologic cancer program at YNHH's Smilow Cancer Hospital uses a multidisciplinary approach to treat precancerous changes of the vulva, vagina, cervix, Fallopian tubes and other areas.