Top-ranked Hospitals 2001

[birdeJ]

• TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) in the Texas Medical Center (Houston, Tex.) has been named the number-two rehab hospital in the nation in the 2001 U.S. News & World Report annual listing of America's best hospitals. Twenty hospitals were named to the list of rehabilitation facilities. TIRR specializes in medical care, education, and research in the field of catastrophic injury. Contact: TIRR, (713) 528-4554.

• Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (West Orange, N.J.) was named the fourth-best rehabilitation hospital in the U.S. News & World Report listing. Contact: Kessler, (888) 721-3214 / (973) 243-8551 / Gsolomon@kessler-rehab.com.

[Wise Young]

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/he...l/specreha.htm

Thanks, BirdeJ. The list is compiled from opinions of board-certified rehabilitation specialists at other hospitals. It is interesting that the top-ranked center is in Chicago by a wide margin. At 63.7%, this means that a majority of rehabilition specialists believe that the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is the best in the nation. However, only 3% of the specialists who were contacted voted, so this is not a particularly representative polling. Actually, I would love to see what people on this site believe are the best rehabilitation centers in America. Do you agree with this listing?

The full list is as follows:

Rank Hospital Reputational score
1 Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago 63.7%
2 The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, Houston 37.4%
3 University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle 32.9%
4 Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, N.J. 23.8%
5 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 20.3%
6 Craig Hospital, Englewood, Colo. 20.0%
7 New York University Medical Center 14.0%
8 Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus 11.1%
9 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia 10.7%
10 Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, Downey, Calif. 10.0%
11 University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 9.6%
12 Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston 8.9%
13 National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, D.C. 8.6%
14 Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York 6.7%
15 Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore 5.9%
16 Albert Einstein Med. Center (Moss Rehab. Hosp.), Philadelphia 5.6%
17 Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, Calif. 3.9%
18 Shepherd Center, Atlanta 3.9%
19 University Hospital, Denver 3.1%
20 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 3.1%

[This message was edited by Wise Young on October 22, 2001 at 08:43 AM.]

[SCI-Nurse]

Note that VA hospitals and SCI centers are excluded from this poll...not because they are not good, but because they were not on the list.

In addition, this is not a poll specifically about SCI care, but about general rehabilitation. Not all general rehabilitation centers excell in SCI care.

I would be much more interested in a poll of patients' opinions than physicians, who tend to base this on who they know at the center or the publications they have read from that center's research (which does not always impact the quality of patient care) or on the past (but not necessarily current) performance of a center.

(KLD)

[gpbullock]

I was at Rancho Los Amigos, and I thought the place was a joke. I think that most physicians working with SCI think that there is very little chance of recovery, so put very little effort into rehabilitation.

[martha]

My husband's two months at TIRR we less than hoped for. They too believe that there is not hope and one should learn to live with's condition at this moment. At one point, he asked his OT to get in a wc and spend his allotted hour rolling around the PT/OT area to show him how inaccessible things were, even the water fountain. Their response was that they didn't want patients self-directing (things like getting a drink?). On an inpatient basis,the therapy was extremely minimal at best. There were a couple of EXCELLENT PCA's (Abdul especially) and then there were several doing OJT that actually dropped him explaining they didn't realize he would be so heavy (200#). They will not encourage use of nor write a rx for FES on the basis that it "gives false hope when you see muscles moving". The psyiatrist does NOT return calls and his nurse does so only on rare occasions (still waiting for that info on pressure sore treatment from 3 months ago which we no longer need now). Otherwise,it's a charming place and for a hospital, the food was good according to my husband.

martha

[marmalady]

Our experience at Kessler in West Orange for five months, followed by 1 year of outpatient PT/OT, and ongoing urology care, has been, for the most part, excellent. Most of our run-ins were with the understaffed nursing dept. and we quickly discovered that the squeaky wheel DOES get oiled!

The docs were all superb - Matt's physiatrist has no life of her own; I saw her at Kessler at all times of the day and night; we laughed with her, and cried with her. When Matt had his seizure and was transferred to an acute care ICU, she took her time off to go there and be with him.

The therapists were all wonderful, and became a part of our extended family; I miss them all. They constantly encouraged their patients to do more and more, and gave families a wonderful education in preparation for going home.

It makes me so sad to hear that other rehab centers aren't providing this kind of care; I'm sure they're not charging any less than Kessler is for the poor service!

I don't know how we could rate centers, or comment on the listings, other than the one (s) we are familiar with. I was kind of surprised to see Craig listed so low, as I had heard they were excellent, also. But, as you pointed out, Wise, only 3% of the docs polled replied, so what do the stats really mean??!!

Jackie

[Wise Young]

KLD and Marmalady,

As you know, experiences vary even within a hospital because it depends so much on the individual doctors, nurses, and therapists that take care of people. I also think that doctors don't really know what is going on in the wards of other hospitals. Most of the time, they see what another center is doing from the viewpoint of research and papers that are presented at meetings. The reputation of doctors also make a difference for other doctors. Finally, the way the poll is worded suggest that they asked the doctors to identify the "best" rehabilitation hospital in the country. It is entirely possible that Kessler, for example, was listed as second place by many specialists but it is listed as first place only by about a third of the specialists.

KLD, you are right. I think that the opinions of people and families who have been at the hospital are so much more meaningful. Now, what I really would like to hear is the opinion of nurses... that should really tear the veil of public relations off the hospitals

Wise.

[Rick1]

I agree that patient opinions would have a significant impact on this survey. But for that to be a relevant factor, the patients would have to be familiar with all of the centers. Not likely.

After my injury I remember being told, mostly by medical personnel, how lucky I was to be going to TIRR. And in fact, I looked forward to proactively pursuing rehabilitation there. I left feeling frustrated, and questioning the scope of their program. I still do (question their program model).

[Carl R]

I agree with the others,TIRR leaves a lot to be desired. I have yet to talk to a patient who has been there and come away with a positive feeling. The nurses and aides are not trained very well and are usually over worked. Most of the help are underpaid as well, and have not been there very long. The good ones stay few months and then move on to better paying jobs. I believe TIRR is rated highly because of Dr. William Donovan and Dr. Parsons. They seem to be very well respected, although personally I feel they are way too conservative. I have to give credit that they have slowly change their attitudes somewhat over the last three years. Dr. Donovan has written me prescriptions for FES bike and neuromuscular improvement program at another hospital (HealthSouth rehabilitation), even after he has told me that there really has not been enough information to prove the results of either.

As my dad said " if TIRR is the best, he would hate to see the worst. "

[martha]

Carl R,
How did you talk Donovan into the rx for the FES bike? He's the one that told me he didn't agree with it's benefits and thought it would give false hope to those seeing their muscles reacting. When I mentioned its possible cardiovascular benefits, his response was "you can get a precious good cardiovascular workout pushing a wheelchair"!!! Unfortunately my husband's shoulders are already "going" after only a few months of his type of workout. Any insight on how to get through to the 'good doctor' would be greatly appreciated!

martha