Cleveland Clinic No. 1 in Heart Care for 25th Consecutive Year

For the past quarter of a century, Cleveland Clinic has been ranked the No. 1 hospital for heart care according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals.

Overall, Cleveland Clinic is ranked as the No. 4 hospital in America in the Best Hospitals 2019-20 rankings, marking the 21st consecutive year Cleveland Clinic has ranked as one of the nation’s Top 5 hospitals.

“These rankings reinforce our caregivers’ hard work and shared sense of purpose for our patients,” said Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. “We’re proud to be recognized for our continued excellence over more than two decades. It’s more proof that Cleveland Clinic is committed to our mission, to providing the best care anywhere in healthcare, and to doing what is right for our patients.”

U.S. News Best Hospitals ranks hospitals in 16 specialty areas; Cleveland Clinic ranked in the Top 10 in 11 specialties – Cardiology & Heart Surgery (1), Rheumatology (2), Gynecology(3), Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (4), Nephrology(4), Urology (4), Cancer (6), Pulmonology & Lung Surgery (7), Geriatrics (8), Neurology & Neurosurgery (10), and Ophthalmology (10).

Cleveland Clinic also ranked nationally in Psychiatry (11), Diabetes & Endocrinology (13), Orthopedics (17), and Ear, Nose & Throat (27). Less than 4 percent of hospitals – 165 out of 4,500 evaluated by U.S. News – were ranked in even one of 16 specialty areas.

Cleveland Clinic has ranked higher in heart care than any other hospital since 1995.

“We are truly humbled to be honored as the nation’s best hospital for heart care for the 25th consecutive year. This would not be possible without the trust of our patients, devotion of our caregivers and generosity of our donors,” said Lars Svensson, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute. “We will continue to strive to make patients feel at ease when entrusting their care to us, while also remaining dedicated to the advancement of research in cardiovascular medicine. This is reflection of our devoted team of physicians, nurses, mid-level providers, and support staff who care for our patients.”

Cleveland Clinic has been a leader in heart care since the 1940s, when Arda Green, M.D., and Irvine Page, M.D., led research teams that isolated serotonin and linked high blood pressure to heart disease.

Cleveland Clinic’s cardiac-related discoveries and “firsts” have continued since then. Cleveland Clinic has:

• Performed the world’s first successful stopped heart surgery in clinical practice (Donald Effler, M.D., and Laurence Groves, M.D., 1956)
• Developed selective coronary angiography (Mason Sones, M.D., 1958)
• Helped establish cholesterol/heart disease risk (Irvine Page, M.D., and Helen Brown, Ph.D., 1958-65)
• Pioneered coronary bypass surgery (Rene Favaloro, M.D., 1967)
• Developed new standard of care for bypass surgery, using the mammary artery (Dr. Favaloro and Floyd Loop, M.D., 1971)
• Invented new devices for heart valve repair (Toby Cosgrove, M.D., 1980)
• Directed the Reversal trial, the first study to show that high doses of statins could halt the progression of coronary artery disease (Steven Nissen, M.D., 2003)
• Linked gut bacteria to high cholesterol, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease (Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., 2011/ongoing)

Currently, Cleveland Clinic performs more cardiac surgeries than any other U.S. hospital and has the best quality outcomes, while frequently serving patients with more complex medical needs.

According to U.S. News, Best Hospitals rankings are based largely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and discharge-to-home rates, volume, and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators.

The 2019-20 rankings will be published in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2020” guidebook, available on newsstands in mid-September. Rankings can also be found at Best Hospitals.

Additional Cleveland Clinic highlights include:

• Cleveland Clinic has the No. 1-ranked hospitals in Ohio, Cleveland, Miami, and Akron.
• Of the Top 5 hospitals in Ohio, three are Cleveland Clinic hospitals. (Main campus, Fairview, and Hillcrest)
• In addition to main campus, the following received national rankings:
  • Cleveland Clinic Florida (Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – 17)
  • Fairview Hospital (Cardiology & Heart Surgery – 36; Orthopedics – 35)
  • Hillcrest Hospital (Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – 47; Orthopedics – 28)
• State and regional rankings include:
  • Cleveland Clinic main campus ­– No. 1 in Ohio; No. 1 in Cleveland Metro Area
  • Akron General – No. 14 (tie) in Ohio; No. 1 in Akron Metro Area
  • Cleveland Clinic Weston ­– No. 5 (tie) in Florida; No. 1 in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale Metro Area
  • Cleveland Clinic Indian River – No. 27 in Florida
  • Fairview Hospital – No. 4 in Ohio; No. 3 in Cleveland Metro Area
  • Hillcrest Hospital – No 5 in Ohio; No. 4 in Cleveland Metro Area

Cleveland Clinic Heart Facts

In 2017, Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute saw 633,355 patients from all 50 states and 129 countries.

Cleveland Clinic’s heart institute publishes an average of 750 research papers a year.

Cleveland Clinic had one of the first heart transplant programs in the country, established in 1984.

• Cleveland Clinic performed its first heart transplant in 1968, and 1,946 transplants since 1984.
• It was the first in Ohio to do a heart/double lung transplant.
• Its heart transplant program will be 35 years old this August, and is still one of the major heart transplant programs in the country.

Cleveland Clinic is one of the largest centers for valve surgery.

• Since 2013 Cleveland Clinic has a 0% mortality after mitral valve repair, mostly by robotic approach.
• Cleveland Clinic performs over 2,000 aortic valve repairs or replacements each year.
• We performed 368 isolated aortic valve replacements last year there was a 0% mortality.

Rene Favaloro, M.D.

Mason Sones, M.D.

Laurence Groves, M.D

Donald Effler, M.D.

Tom Mihaljevic, M.D.

Lars Svensson, M.D.

Cleveland Clinic Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute

Irvine Page, M.D., TIME, Oct 1955

Toby Cosgrove, M.D.

Helen Brown, Ph.D.