7 Long Island hospitals ranked best in state by U.S. News & World Report

Seven Long Island hospitals ranked among the top in the state, according to a new report.

The health care centers were recognized in an annual hospital rankings list by the U.S. News & World Report, a publication focused on consumer ratings. This year, NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola made the Honor Roll, a list of 20 hospitals nationwide that have excelled in several different specialties, according to the publication. A total of seven Long Island hospitals were ranked for their excellence in the state, accounting for 35% of the best hospitals in New York. 

The seven hospitals are NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island; Long Island Jewish Medical Center at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park; North Shore University Hospital at Northwell Health in Manhasset; Catholic Health Services of Long Island's St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Flower Hill; Stony Brook University Hospital; Huntington Hospital at Northwell Health; and South Shore University Hospital at Northwell Health in Bay Shore.

U.S. News & World Report makes its designations through a series of factors, including inpatient and outpatient clinical outcomes, facility staffing and technology, and patient and provider surveys, according to the publication.

NYU Langone Health hospitals tied for first place in the New York rankings with The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and two NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals in Manhattan.

Langone also ranked first in more specialties than any other medical center in the country, according to the list, including neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, pulmonology and lung surgery, and geriatrics, according to the list.

“Choosing health care is very important,” said Dr. Joseph Greco, executive vice president and chief of hospital operations at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. “From a patient’s point of view, you want to go to a system that is the best out there.”

Northwell Health had six hospitals rank at the state level and four on Long Island.

“When you can parse out the specifics according to each hospital, each region, each specialty and get the highest of results, that part is extremely meaningful,” said Dr. Jill Kalman, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Northwell.

Kalman said Northwell does deep analyses of each specialty ranking to understand each category.

“We then have our leaders broadcast that out to their teams and hospitals and put it out there publicly to enhance who we are to our patients,” she said.

Hospitals will often use these rankings in marketing materials, but experts say patients should consider the rankings as one of many factors when choosing a hospital for a procedure or treatment.

“It’s a tool,” said Ilene Corina, president of Long Island-based nonprofit patient advocacy organization Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy. “It’s something we can keep in mind when choosing our hospital and doctors. But things can go wrong at the best hospitals, so it’s not a guarantee. We can’t let our guard down because a hospital got a really good rating.”

Wendy Darwell, president and CEO of the Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State, said she considers the U.S. News & World Report to be a balanced ranking system thanks to its criteria.

“They focus on objective data, like patient outcomes and patient satisfaction, and other core care-related indicators,” she said. “They talk to clinicians and help to develop their metrics based on that.”

But, she said, patients should speak with their providers before making a decision on where to seek treatment.

“First and foremost, you need to take into consideration things like the providers that are in your health insurance network, your comfort with traveling … even the highest-ranked hospitals may not be the best for the specific care you need,” she said. “Every hospital has different strengths. That’s why the ratings are a good place to check against, but it’s really important that you talk to your own doctors to get their advice. Nobody specializes in everything.”