Allina Hospitals Named In ‘America’s Best Hospitals 2004'

MINNEAPOLIS, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Allina's Abbott Northwestern and Mercy hospitals are among the best hospitals in the country, according to the 15th annual edition of U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Hospitals." The publication ranks 177 top medical centers, from a total of 6,012, in 17 clinical specialties.

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Abbott Northwestern was ranked in four specialties: #33 in heart and heart surgery; #21 in neurology and neurosurgery; #38 in urology; and #45 in ear, nose and throat. Mercy Hospital was ranked #42 in respiratory disorders.

To be considered, a hospital first must satisfy one of three requirements: be a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school or have at least nine of 17 specified items of medical technology.

In each specialty, a hospital must perform a given number of procedures or had to be cited by at least one physician in the past three years of U.S. News surveys. These hospitals received a score that equally weighs reputation, mortality and a group of care-related factors such as nursing.

The "America's Best Hospitals" methodology was devised in 1993 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The score is based on:

   -- Reputation - as rated by 150 board-certified physicians who were
      selected at random and asked to list up to five hospitals they
      consider tops in their specialty regardless of cost or location.
   -- Mortality - comparing the number of deaths of Medicare patients with
      specified conditions in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the number expected.
   -- Other care-related factors - including availability of hospice and
      palliative care, the number of discharges, nursing ratios and other
      issues.

The rankings will appear in the July 12 issue of U.S. News & World Report, which hits newsstands Monday, July 5.

Allina Hospitals & Clinics is a non-profit network of hospitals, clinics and other health care services, providing care throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Allina owns and operates 11 hospitals, 42 clinics, hospice services, pharmacies, and emergency medical transportation services. Allina Hospitals & Clinics can be found online at http://www.allina.com/ and the latest health information is at http://www.medformation.com/ .

CONTACT: Vince Rivard of Allina, +1-763-236-3777, or Richard Folkers ofU.S. News, +1-202-955-2219

Web site: http://www.allina.com/http://www.medformation.com/