National Jewish Health Named Top 10 Hospital in Pulmonology by U.S. News & World Report

Noted for 27 consecutive years of category leadership

National Jewish Health has been named a top 10 hospital in the pulmonology category for the 27^th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report on its 2023-24 list of best hospitals in the nation. National Jewish Health has been among the top hospitals in this category every year that pulmonology has been evaluated and this year is ranked #6 on the list.

National Jewish Health also was recognized by U.S. News & World Report this year as “High Performing,” the highest rating available for conditions in the Common Adult Conditions and Procedures, in three categories: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Lung Cancer Surgery and Pneumonia.

Since 2011, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health together with its longtime academic affiliate UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.

“Our longstanding excellence in respiratory care is the reason we consistently earn high marks in a wide variety of measurement tools and programs, including the 27 years of recognition by U.S. News & World Report. These measures reinforce our 124-year history as the leading respiratory care hospital in the nation,” said Michael Salem, MD, president and CEO of National Jewish Health. “The expertise and dedication of our entire team of doctors, caregivers, researchers and staff enables us to continue to deliver innovative care for patients with a wide variety of lung, heart, immune and related illnesses. We make a difference daily for our patients through both care and research.”  

The specialty rankings for Pulmonology & Lung Surgery are based on a combination of factors established by U.S. News & World Report. In recent years including over the past few weeks, the methodology and reporting practices for this study have changed drastically. These changes have decreased the importance of medical peer recognition and reputation while expanding the focus on other measures. In addition, the study gathers data primarily for inpatient hospital care and only for those insured by Medicare. These changes in methodology have made it difficult to compare year-over-year rankings and also increasingly fail to reflect shifts toward advanced outpatient care, an important component of comprehensive care, as well as the broad range of people helped by the health care system.

“Our modern hospital systems are innovative and expanding. We deliver care to patients in a variety of settings that go far beyond the walls of a single hospital,” explained Dr. Salem. “While we appreciate the long-time, positive rankings we’ve received from the U.S. News program, we also believe it is important to focus efforts and resources on data that can help drive the best care, the most innovative cutting-edge clinical research trials and that is geared toward ever improving the way we deliver care.”