Moffitt lauded in hospital ranking

The cancer center vaults from 21st place to 10th in a U.S. News & World Report ranking. Other bay area hospitals also are noted.

By RYAN MEEHAN
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 13, 2002

TAMPA -- The national reputation of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center got another boost Friday when it was ranked 10th in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best cancer hospitals.

The magazine, which analyzed data from 205 medical centers nationwide, rated Moffitt just below Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic.

Patricia Goldsmith, a Moffitt spokeswoman, said the distinction is a tribute to the 15-year-old center's doctors, nurses and researchers.

"These (other institutions) are decades older than ours," Goldsmith said. "It tells you we're doing something right."

The magazine's rankings are based on several categories, including mortality rates, the ratio of nurses to beds and technology services. Also critical is a hospital's reputation among doctors nationwide.

Moffitt, on the University of South Florida campus, didn't even make the list four years ago. Last year it was ranked 21st.

Three other Tampa Bay area hospitals made the magazine's Top 50 in different specialties.

Bayonet Point Regional Medical Center in Hudson was ranked 27th in hearts and heart surgery. Tampa General Hospital ranked 47th in the kidney disease category.

St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa made the list in two areas: 48th for urology and 34th for digestive disorders.

Dr. Frank Mastandrea, a urologist at St. Joseph's, attributes the department's rise to younger doctors' being trained to perform more complex surgeries and the hospital's investment in detecting and treating prostate cancer.

"It's nice to know someone noticed," Mastandrea said.

Not everyone holds the U.S. News rankings in high esteem.

Bill Hervey, a spokesman for Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, which didn't make the list, said there are hundreds of entities that rank hospitals each year. Some, he said, even strike deals in which hospitals are ranked in the top 10 but then have to pay the ranking organization to use the distinction in their marketing.

While Hervey said he isn't trying to diminish the achievements of area hospitals, he said only one ranking matters to Bayfront, that of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. "It's the gold standard," Hervey said.

In 2000, he said, Bayfront received the commission's highest ranking -- accreditation with commendation.

Other Florida hospitals making the list were Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, Florida Hospital Medical Center in Orlando and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

Rankings

Cancer: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center (No. 10

Urology: St. Joseph's Hospital (No. 48)

Digestive disorders: St. Joseph's Hospital (No. 34)

Kidney disease: Tampa General Hospital (No. 47)

Hearts and heart surgery: Bayonet Point Regional Medical Center (No. 27)

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