In its first-ever ranking of hospitals by state, US News & World Report magazine has named University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics the top hospital in Wisconsin – and among the nation’s top 50 hospitals in seven medical specialties.  Watertown area residents access these specialty services locally through a partnership with UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center (WRMC).
 
"Our partnership with UW Health has brought tremendous benefits to our region," said WRMC President John Kosanovich." Regional residents can access nationally recognized specialty care without having to leave our community."
 
The rankings, based on analysis of nearly 5,000 US hospitals, are included in the 2012-2013 edition of the magazine’s America’s Best Hospitals guide. Hospitals are ranked in 16 specialties to guide patients who need an especially high level of care. 
 
UW Hospital and Clinics is nationally ranked in the following specialties:

Nephrology (24)
Geriatrics (29)
Gynecology (44)
Pulmonology (33)
Ear, Nose and Throat (38)
Neurology and Neurosurgery (40)  
Cancer (41)        

Watertown area residents can access four of these medical specialty services - Pulmonology; Ear, Nose and Throat; Neurology and Cancer care - at WRMC or at UW Health Partners clinics in Johnson Creek.
 
WRMC and UW Health affiliated in 2008 with a goal of increasing the specialty care that is available locally to benefit residents of the greater Watertown region. "We believe that collaboration - not competition - is the best way to maintain the health of residents in our region.  We are proud that our collaboration with UW Health means that residents can access nationally recognized care in the convenience of their home town,” said Kosanovich.
 
Only 150 hospitals make the US News national rankings in at least one category.
 
The magazine also named UW a “high-performing hospital” in cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology; orthopedics; and urology.  High-performing hospitals must be in the top 25 percent within a given specialty.
 
“To be recognized as the top hospital in the state would be, on its own, a tremendous achievement,” said UW Hospital and Clinics President and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky.  “But just last month, the key federal agency measuring healthcare quality named Wisconsin the second-highest in the nation based on more than 170 measures of quality.  UW earned this top ranking among many well-performing hospitals.  It is a tribute to years of hard work at every level of this organization, and that commitment to high value will continue.”
 
Twelve of the 16 categories ranked are assessed based on a combination of data on patient safety, survival and staffing along with survey results from physicians.  In four categories (psychiatry, ophthalmology, rheumatology and rehabilitation) only a reputational score is used.