Top-hospital list includes 7 in Ky.: UK, St. Elizabeth, Baptist in Lexington and Louisville, Norton, Jewish and, newly, Owensboro

Seven of Kentukcky's hospitals have met the "high U.S. News standards" and been named "Best Regional Hospitals" in the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

They are, in order of ranking: the University of Kentucky hospital, St. Elizabeth Healthcare Edgewood-Covington, Baptist Health Lexington, Louisville's Norton Hospital, Baptist Health Louisville, Louisville's Jewish Hospital and Owensboro Health Regional Hospital.

This is the first year the Owensboro hospital has made the list, reports the Messenger-Inquirer of Owensboro.

UK HealthCare, for the second consecutive year, claimed the No. 1 ranking with its Albert B. Chandler Hospital. It ranked in the top 50 hospitals nationally for four adult specialties, including diabetes and endocrinology (#37) , geriatrics (#43), neurology and neurosurgery (#44) and cancer (#50). Among specialties, UK received a "high performing" rank in five, including gastroenterology, nephrology (kidneys), orthopedics, pulmonology (lungs) and urology. The magazine gives this distinction to the top 10 percent of hospitals nationally.

“We are committed to providing the best programs and best care available in Kentucky so that no one has to travel far from home for world-class advanced specialty care and these rankings speak to the hard work and dedication of our physicians, nurses and our entire health-care team,” Dr. Michael Karpf, UK's soon-to-retire executive vice president for health affairs, said in a release.

The rankings compared more than 4,500 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. This year's report provides information on nearly every hospital in the nation. Kentucky has more than 120 hospitals.

St. Elizabeth, ranked No. 2 in Kentucky, also holds this distinction in the Cincinnati metro area. It is also the only other Kentucky hospital to qualify for a high-performance ranking this year in a specialty category, getting this distinction for geriatrics and pulmonology.

The report also recognizes hospitals that are "high performing" for nine common adult procedures and conditions, including: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery.

Baptist Health Lexington was ranked high-performing in all nine. UK and St. Elizabeth were for all except abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, in which both received an average rating. Norton Hospital was rated high-performing in six: COPD, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery.

Baptist Health Louisville was ranked high performing for five: COPD, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement and knee replacement. Jewish Hospital was high performing for COPD, colon cancer surgery and heart failure. Owensboro Health Regional Hospital was high performing for heart failure, hip replacement and knee replacement. It received a below-average ranking for aortic valve surgery.

The report offers an overview of more than 100 Kentucky hospitals and a breakdown of each of the measured categories, as relevant to the services the hospital provides. Click here for more information on how the magazine ranks the hospitals.

Nationally, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., claimed the No. 1 spot on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The Cleveland Clinic ranked No. 2, followed by Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore at No. 3, said the magazine's news release.