University Hospital Places Two Programs in U.S.News & World Report Annual Guide to America´s Best Hospitals

Cincinnati, OH -- Two University Hospital patient care programs are ranked among the nation's best in the 2007 U.S.News & World Report annual guide to "America's Best Hospitals." The programs ranked in the listing are: Endocrinology (34) and Urology (38).This is the eighth consecutive year the hospital has ranked in the listing.

The U.S.News & World Report "America's Best Hospitals" ranks 16 different medical specialties at hospitals nationwide. The standards for ranking in "Best Hospitals" are rigorous. To be considered for this list, hospitals have to meet any of three standards: membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals, affiliation with a medical school, or availability of at least nine of 18 key technology-related services. In each specialty, a hospital must have performed a given number of defined procedures or had to be recommended by at least one physician responding to U.S.News surveys in the past three years. These hospitals received a score that equally weighed reputation, death rate and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. The 50 hospitals in each specialty with the highest score are listed.

The hard copy edition of 2007 "America's Best Hospitals" will be available on newsstands Monday, July 16.

University Hospital is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system of physicians and hospitals serving Greater Cincinnati. University Hospital serves more than 500,000 patients per year with primary care services and an extensive list of specialized inpatient and outpatient care services. University Hospital is home to the area's only adult Level I Trauma Center, accredited helicopter ambulance service and multi-solid organ transplant center. The hospital is consistently ranked in U.S.News & World Report's annual guide to America's Best Hospitals and as one of the Top Heart Hospitals in the U.S. by Solucient. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.