Many hospitals that historically receive high marks from national rankings don't break the top 20 in a new set of ratings from the Lown Institute and the Washington Monthly magazine.
The inaugural "Best Hospitals for America" ranking measures in "sharp contrast" from others that focus on specialized treatments and surgeries, the Washington Monthly said. The magazine worked with the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, to create rankings that consider three key metrics: quality of care, civic leadership and value of care.
While quality is a metric other ratings consider, Washington Monthly and the Lown Institute expanded on what civic leadership and value of care means in the ranking. For civic leadership, the rankings measure the degree to which a hospital treats patients with income and demographics that are in line with the community's; charity care and other benefits; and how much senior executives are paid compared to front-line workers. The value of care metric examines low-value test and procedure overuse. View a full explanation of the methodology here.
"At a time when communities are relying on them like never before, hospitals must rethink what it means to be great," Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said in a press release. "COVID-19 highlights how hospitals are essential community partners for anyone in need. To be great, however, a hospital cannot only provide care that's high in quality. It must also deliver value and advance equality. Our index is designed to help them do just that."
Here are 20 hospitals the Washington Monthly and the Lown Institute named best for America in 2020:
1. JPS Health Network (Fort Worth, Texas)
2. Marshall Medical Center (Placerville, Calif.)
3. UPMC McKeesport (Pa.)
4. Ascension Seton (Austin, Texas)
5. Mercy Health-West Hospital (Cincinnati)
6. Providence Portland (Ore.) Medical Center
7. Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital (Leominster, Mass.)
8. Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center (Houston)
9. Parkland Health and Hospital System (Dallas)
10. Boston Medical Center Corp.
11. Norton (Va.) Community Hospital
12. St. Luke's Magic Valley RMC (Twin Falls, Idaho)
13. University of Colorado Hospital Authority (Aurora)
14. Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital (South Boston, Va.)
15. Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge (La.)
16. Providence Centralia (Wash.) Hospital
17. Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (Philadelphia)
18. Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne
19. Wellstar Paulding Hospital (Hiram, Ga.)
20. Oroville (Calif.) Hospital
View the full rankings here.