DURHAM—For twenty years, Duke University Hospital has consistently appeared in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s annual best hospitals edition. For 2009, the hospital tied for 10^th place and ranked the top 10 in eight of the 16 specialties measured.

“The ranking is a wonderful credit to the continued outstanding teamwork of all the people of Duke University Hospital,” said Kevin Sowers, the hospital’s CEO. “The daily efforts of each person to put the patient at the center our organization and to continually seek ways to improve add up collectively to what Duke Hospital is and what is recognized with these rankings.”

Duke University Hospital is the only hospital in North Carolina and in the Southeastern U.S. to obtain a top ten ranking in the magazine. In fact, 2009 marks the 20^th year for ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ edition, which has served as a vital tool for many patients requiring medical sophistication and expertise in specific medical fields of study.

The magazine looks at critical care and complex diagnoses of chronic disease and their respective treatments at the country’s most notable hospitals. A total of 4,861 hospitals were placed under the magazine staff’s microscope, yet only 174 scored high enough to be ranked in even of the 16 specialties. Furthermore, just 21 could qualify—by the magazine’s standards—for their Honor Roll by ranking at or near the top in at least six categories.

Candidates for the specialties are required to meet any one of three criteria, according to the magazine. They must be either a teaching hospital, have at least 200 beds or have at least 100 beds and at least four out of eight important medical technologies, such as modern generation scanning equipment and precision radiation therapies. The magazine states that 44 percent of all hospitals met the testing criteria.

The top ten medical centers in the 2009 edition were respectively: John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, by Mayo Clinic, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Duke University Medical Center (Duke University Hospital).

Scoring was based on a point system that considered Reputation, Mortality index, Patient safety and other care-related factors such as nurse staffing and degree of technology.

Other North Carolina hospitals that scored well in individual specialties were University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

The magazine also ranked the nation’s best children’s hospitals and while none of North Carolina’s pediatric care facilities scored in the top ten, several received accreditations from U.S. News & World Report in specific specialties of care. Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center, University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital and Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte were mentioned in those rankings.