National Jewish Named Top Respiratory Hospital for Sixth Consecutive Year

National Jewish Medical and Research Center has been named the best respiratory hospital in the nation for the sixth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report. The ranking is included in the 2003 "America's Best Hospitals" guide published by the weekly newsmagazine in its July 28 issue, currently available on the Web at www.usnews.com.

"Through the years our physicians and staff have worked hard to provide the best possible care for our respiratory patients," said Lynn M. Taussig, MD, National Jewish President and CEO. "We are honored that U.S. News has once again deemed those efforts a success."

The magazine ranked hospitals' respiratory programs based on their reputations among board-certified pulmonologists, as well as mortality rates, ratio of registered nurses to beds, technology, and other factors culled from the annual survey of hospitals by the American Hospital Association. National Jewish had the highest reputational score among all the respiratory hospitals evaluated. Allergy programs are not ranked by the newsmagazine.

National Jewish is the only medical and research center in the United States devoted entirely to respiratory, allergic and immune system diseases, including asthma, tuberculosis, emphysema, severe allergies, AIDS, cancer, lupus and other autoimmune diseases. National Jewish physician/researchers participate in several National Institute of Health studies that evaluate new and existing treatments for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. They also serve on several NIH advisory boards that write guidelines for treatment of those diseases.

"Since most of our physicians are also researchers, they keep abreast of the latest findings and frequently advance the state of knowledge and care themselves," said Dr. Taussig.