U.S. News and World Report has crowned the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital the number one hospital in the state.
Chandler jumped five spots on the annual list to become the top-rated hospital in the commonwealth, beating out Baptist Health Louisville and last year’s number one finisher, Baptist Health Lexington.
Bo Cofield, vice president and chief clinical officer for UK HealthCare, credits the entire staff.
"It is external recognition of the great work that our people do each and every day," he says. "It's not just our doctors and nurses. It's the folks who are greeting patients at the front door. It's the folks who are driving our shuttle buses. It's the folks who are emptying our trash cans and serving food. It's everybody."
When asked what contributed to the rankings boost, Cofield cites several factors, including, "the elimination of harm from the environment by reductions in catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line blood stream infections, patient falls, those kinds of things. We've greatly reduced the amount of those safety incidents that occur in the environment."
He also points to Chandler’s Magnet certification by the American Nurses Association, a designation held by only two percent of hospitals in the nation.
UK HealthCare has grown significantly in recent years, with hospital discharges up by 88 percent between 2004 and 2015. According to U.S. News, the hospital also ranked as “high performing” in six adult specialties – cancer, diabetes, nephrology, neurology, orthopedics, and pulmonology.
Rounding out the top five in the overall rankings were St. Elizabeth Healthcare Edgewood-Covington Hospitals, and Norton Hospital in Louisville.