Shepherd Center Ranks Among Top 10 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 America’s Best Hospitals

ATLANTA - (July 16, 2009) - Shepherd Center was again named one of the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation in a U.S. News & World Report survey. The rankings are accessible today online at US News and on sale at newsstands July 21.

Shepherd Center ranked No. 9 among 23 hospitals that earned a spot in the magazine’s survey of rehabilitation hospitals. Shepherd Center also held the distinction of being the only rehabilitation hospital in the Southeast that is listed in the top 23 that were ranked.

“We are honored to rank among the top rehabilitation hospitals in the country and especially proud to be the highest ranked rehabilitation hospital in the Southeast,” said Gary Ulicny, Ph.D., president and CEO of Shepherd Center. “Being included for the tenth year in a row shows that our peers are recognizing the specialty care we offer to individuals who’ve experienced a spinal cord or brain injury.”

America's Best Hospitals guide includes rankings of 174 medical centers nationwide in 16 specialties--with full data available online for another 1,500 unranked hospitals. In addition, the Best Hospitals "Honor Roll" highlights 21 medical centers that were ranked at or near the top in at least six specialties.

Rankings for rehabilitation hospitals are based on nominations among physicians. Physicians are asked to name hospitals they consider the best in their specialty, regardless of location or expense.

The 16 ranked specialties are cancer; diabetes & endocrine disorders; digestive disorders; ear, nose, and throat; geriatric care; gynecology; heart and heart surgery; kidney disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; psychiatry; rehabilitation; respiratory disorders; rheumatology; and urology.

"When the stakes are high, you want the best care you can get for someone close to you," said Avery Comarow, health rankings editor. "These are hospitals that are used to getting the sickest patients."

In addition to the hospitals that appear in one or more specialty rankings in the print magazine, the 2009-10 America’s Best Hospitals package includes an online consumer guide where readers can find information on more than 1,500 hospitals that qualified for rankings, but did not score high enough to be ranked (fewer than one-third of the 4,861 U.S. hospitals evaluated did qualify).