For the 17^th consecutive year, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine, is the only St. Louis area hospital or medical institution listed among America’s elite medical centers in the U.S.News & World Report  “America’s Best Hospitals” issue. Barnes-Jewish earned honors as part of the newsmagazine’s Honor Roll, ranking 9^th nationally while ranking in 15 individual specialties. 

Barnes-Jewish is the only Honor Roll hospital within a 250-mile radius of St. Louis to be recognized and is the only St. Louis hospital to be ranked in more than one category.

The standards used to rank “America’s Best Hospitals” are rigorous. Of 4,861 U.S. hospitals, only 21 hospitals made the Honor Roll, a list reserved for medical centers with very high rankings in at least six specialties. Overall, only 174 have ranked specialties and only hospitals earning high marks in six or more of 16 select specialties made the Honor Roll of America’s best hospitals. 

The 2009 guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” appears online Thursday, July 16 at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and in the August issue of the national newsmagazine, which hits newsstands July 20.

“Consistently ranking on the U.S. News Honor Roll places Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University in elite company,” says Andy Ziskind, MD, Barnes-Jewish Hospital president. “When you combine the fact we’re able to offer our patients treatments few in the country can with the compassion of our caring nurses and staff, you realize that’s why we’re national leaders in medicine.”

“Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s doctors, nurses and caregivers earn their excellent reputation by providing world-class care to patients every day. We are proud of their continued recognition as one of the best hospitals in America,” says Steven H. Lipstein, BJC HealthCare president and chief executive officer. The collaboration between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is one that is leading the way to innovative treatments and the future of medicine. Congratulations to the staff at both of these nationally ranked institutions.”

The current “America’s Best Hospitals” methodology was devised in 1993 at the University of Chicago. The 2008 rankings were produced by RTI international in Triangle Park, NC. Hospitals had to meet a series of progressively tougher standards to be ranked. To be considered at all, a hospital had to satisfy at least one of three requirements:  membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals, medical school affiliation, and key technology-related services.  From there, hospitals were ranked based on three elements:  reputation, death rate and such care-related factors as nursing and patient services.

For the sixth year a hospital’s Magnet status affected its standing. Barnes-Jewish Hospital was named St. Louis’ first Magnet Hospital in 2003 by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, formally recognizing the hospital as meeting high standards of nursing excellence.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a member of BJC HealthCare, which provides a full range of health care services through its 13 hospitals and more than 100 health care sites in Missouri and Illinois. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is also affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, ranked as one of the nation’s top five medical schools by U.S.News & World Report.

Come be a part of Barnes-Jewish Hosptial.  Be a part of the BEST.  Go to www.barnesjewish.org for more information.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital is internationally recognized as a premiere academic medical center, with emphasis on excellence in research, teaching, and, most importantly, quality and safety of patient care.

A hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) is the last place in the world in which you want to find yourself or a loved one.  But when it comes to the seriously ill, the quality of care they receive in the ICU can mean the difference between life and death.

Hospitals throughout the state of Missouri and around the world refer their most difficult cases to Barnes-Jewish Hospital for intensivist-led care in its ICU.  Physicians at many other institutions rely on the expertise of the BJH ICU as partners in their patient’s recovery.

Here’s some background.

An intensive care unit, or ICU, is a specialized section of a hospital that provides comprehensive and continuous care for persons who are critically ill and who can benefit from treatment.

The purpose of the ICU is simple, even though the practice is complex.  Healthcare professionals at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who work in the ICU or rotate through it during their training provide around-the-clock intensive monitoring and treatment of patients seven days a week.

Patients are generally admitted to an ICU if they are likely to benefit from the level of care provided.  Intensive care has been shown to benefit patients who have a potentially life-threatening disease or disorder.

With an aging population, planning is crucial to handle the increased demand on critical care units. 

“Critical care has saved and extended the lives of a very large number of people,” said Dr Timothy Buchman, chief of burn, trauma, and surgical critical care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  “As our populations nationally and internationally age, and as [these] populations become progressively more ill, the demand on critical care services is going to continue to rise.  It will probably rise faster than we can build additional ICUs or train additional personnel.”

So, what does the future hold for the ICU?  There are many challenges to the delivery of intensive care in the emerging future.  Shortages of nurses and physicians will continue to be a challenge.  As advanced as today’s critical care units are, changes in networks, computing platforms, instrumentation, human-machine interfaces, and software infrastructures and work being done in interoperability, process automation, and decision support all promise to alter both the structure and the operation of future critical unit settings at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

The future is now.  The future is Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

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