UF Shands nationally recognized in 10 specialties

The U.S. News & World Report named UF Health Shands Hospital as the top destination for nationally ranked adult and pediatric health care specialties in Florida.

The 2022-23 Best Hospitals report released on Tuesday analyzed more than 4,500 adult hospitals nationwide and UF Health received national rankings in five adult and five pediatric specialties.

The report comes six weeks after UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital tied for No. 1 as the top pediatric hospital in the state.  

UF’s top five adult specialties ranked among the nation’s top 50 include orthopaedics (26th), ear, nose and throat (40th), geriatrics (45th), pulmonology and lung surgery (48th) and urology (48th).

“It is an exceptional achievement for UF Health to be recognized yet again for its expertise in a broad range of adult and pediatric medical specialties,” said UF Health President Dr. David R. Nelson in the release. “These rankings show an unwavering commitment to excellence throughout our hospitals. That collective dedication to patients inspires all of us as we work together to transform lives, helping those we care for achieve the best possible outcomes.”

Three of UF Health Shands specialties were rated as “high performing,” which puts them in the top 10% of all hospitals nationally in their respective disciplines. These are cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery and neurology/neurosurgery.

In the procedures and conditions ratings, UF Health Shands is distinguished as “high performing” in 15 categories. Those are abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colon cancer surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, hip fracture, hip replacement, kidney failure, knee replacement, lung cancer surgery, ovarian cancer surgery, pneumonia, prostate cancer surgery and stroke.

The orthopaedics department received its highest ranking ever and has either been nationally ranked or high performing for nine consecutive years. The department’s ratings rose partly due to improvements in discharging patients to their homes rather than a rehabilitation facility.

The U.S. News 2022-23 Best Children’s Hospital rankings include a historically high national ranking for pediatric pulmonology (18th) and neurology and neurosurgery (34th). The other three nationally-recognized pediatric specialties include diabetes and endocrinology (13th), cardiology and heart surgery (26th) and cancer (49th). Cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, and pulmonology and lung surgery are the highest-ranked children’s programs in Florida.

“The adult and pediatric hospital rankings validate the expertise of our physicians, faculty and staff across a broad range of medical specialties,” said Traci d’Auguste, chief operating officer of UF Health Shands, in the release. “To be consistently recognized among the nation’s top medical specialties for both children and adults is quite an honor. We’re proud to uphold our tradition of clinical excellence while maintaining a warm, caring environment for our patients.”