A new ranking from the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, examines racial inclusivity of more than 3,200 U.S. hospitals to assess which are best at serving the people of color in their communities.
For the May 25 ranking, Lown looked at how well the demographics of a hospital's Medicare patients matched the demographics of that facility's surrounding communities. Data in the ranking is based on Medicare claims from 2018 as well as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data from 2018.
Lown said hospitals received a higher ranking if they had higher patient counts from ZIP codes with greater proportions of nonwhite patients compared to their "community area" radius, defined by "the distance from which about 90 percent of the hospital's Medicare patients travel."
Overall, Lown found that racial segregation is common in urban hospital markets. It also found that among the 50 most inclusive hospitals, people of color represented 61 percent of patients on average, compared to 17 percent at the 50 least inclusive hospitals. Additionally, Lown found that only three hospitals from the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll made the top 200: Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis (144), Cleveland Clinic (159), and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago (178).
"The difference between the most and least inclusive hospitals is stark, especially when they are blocks away from each other," Lown President Vikas Saini, MD, said in a news release. "As the nation reckons with racial injustice, we cannot overlook our health system. Hospital leaders have a responsibility to better serve people of color and create a more equitable future."
Here are Lown's top 10 hospitals for racial inclusivity:
1. Metropolitan Hospital Center (New York City)
2. Boston Medical Center
3. St. Charles Madras (Ore.)
4. Newark (N.J.) Beth Israel Medical Center
5. Little Colorado Medical Center (Winslow, Ariz.)
6. Presbyterian Española (N.M.) Hospital
7. John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital (Chicago)
8. Harlem Hospital Center (New York City)
9. Sanford Chamberlain (S.D.) Medical Center
10. Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center (New York City)
Here are Lown's bottom 10 hospitals for racial inclusivity:
1. Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center
2. Gateway Regional Medical Center (Granite City, Ill.)
3. Mariners Hospital (Tavernier, Fla.)
4. Porter Regional Hospital (Valparaiso, Ind.)
5. St. Francis Hospital and Heart Center (Roslyn, N.Y.)
6. Franciscan Health Crown Point (Ind.)
7. MarinHealth Medical Center (Greenbrae, Calif.)
8. Alton (Ill.) Memorial Hospital
9. OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony's Health Center (Alton, Ill.)
10. Bryn Mawr (Pa.) Hospital
Additional ranking and methodology information is available here. Lown will launch its full 2021 Hospitals Index, including rankings across more than 50 metrics, in June.