PITTSBURGH, July 17, 2003 For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has been placed on U.S. News & World Report magazines Americas Best Hospitals 2003 Honor Roll as one of the Best of the Best hospitals in the United States.

UPMC remains the only area health system to receive the Best of the Best distinction and one of only two in Pennsylvania.

According to U. S. News & World Report, the Honor Roll recognizes those institutions that perform at a very high level across many specialties. UPMC hospitals placed 15th out of 6,003 eligible hospitals in the United States.

To be placed on the magazines Honor Roll, hospitals not only had to rank in certain specialty areas but they also had to be close to the top in a number of them. Also included on this select list of nationally prestigious institutions are Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.; and UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

This year, UPMC is recognized in 15 specialty areas, more than any other hospital in western Pennsylvania.

The system is ranked 7th in ear, nose and throat, 7th in pediatrics (Childrens Hospital), 12th in cancer, 12th in psychiatry (Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic), 13th in orthopedics, 13th in rheumatology, 16th in digestive disorders, 17th in respiratory disorders, 17th in kidney disease, 20th in geriatrics, 29th in gynecology (Magee-Womens Hospital), 31st in heart/heart surgery, 36th in hormonal disorders, 36th in neurology and neurosurgery and 44th in urology.

UPMC Presbyterian placed in 13 specialty areas, UPMCs Magee-Womens Hospital was ranked in gynecology and UPMCs Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh was ranked in pediatrics.

These rankings are a testament to the professionalism and hard work on the part of our physicians, nurses, researchers and other health care professionals who have once again been recognized as being among the best in the world, stated Jeffrey Romoff, president, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

UPMC has seen a continuous rise in its rankings since 1996 when it first became a unified health system. That year, the system was only ranked in four categories: gastroenterology, otolaryngology, rheumatology and psychiatry.

U.S. News & World Reports Americas Best Hospitals is an assessment of the nations hospitals based on an index made up of three equal parts related to quality of care: reputation, mortality and various factors such as procedure volume and nursing care. These rankings will appear in the July 28 issue of U.S. News & World Report, which will be on the newsstands Monday, July 21.