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To Grow Ranks Of 'Best Hospitals' Region Must Leverage USF's Assets

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 27, 2008

The list of Florida hospitals that rank among the nation's best is noteworthy for who is and isn't there.

The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center continues to be a shining star, ranking 16th in the nation for cancer care.

But Tampa General is the only other area hospital listed, reaching Top 50-status in seven of 16 specialties, up from two in 2005 - a major accomplishment.

Shands Hospital at the University of Florida placed in 11 specialties, the most of any Florida hospital.

And Miami Children's ranked in three, the most of any Florida children's hospital. All Children's in St. Petersburg is missing from the list published annually by U.S. News and World Report.

Also missing were St. Joseph's and University Community in Tampa, Morton Plant Mease in Clearwater and Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

Only one Florida hospital - Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute - made the top 10 in any specialty. Indeed, Bascom Palmer is the nation's best.

The list of best hospitals should be a wake-up call for our state and region. And it should be added to Tampa Bay's economic scorecard for annual review.

The people of Florida deserve better from its hospitals. As it is, too many people with tough cases - even some who face routine surgeries - must leave home to get the best care.

If this region wants to compete in the global marketplace, we must build the draw of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., or the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles - the nation's three top hospitals.

Such a goal is not out of reach. Lesser-known hospitals in medium-sized cities make the honor roll every year. Best practices might be found at UPMC Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville or the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

If these regions can build honor-roll hospitals, why can't Tampa Bay?

Tampa has the means to become a destination site for health care, given our resource in USF Health. Under the high-octane leadership of Dr. Stephen Klasko, the medical school has hired top-notch doctors and researchers who aspire to create newer and better treatments.

Look at the list on this page, and you'll notice that almost all the best hospitals are affiliated with medical schools.

Tampa General has made the list before, in orthopedics, with private-practice surgeons. Still, the hospital's growing prominence is fueled by USF Health.

Take gynecology, for example. Tampa General didn't rank in this specialty two years ago. But this year it ranked 27th, largely because of Dr. David Keefe - a renowned fertility researcher recruited by Klasko from Brown University. Keefe, in turn, recruited fertility expert Dr. Shayne Plosker from Brown; Dr. Ruben Quintero, a Tampa fetal surgeon who wanted to be part of a renowned academic program; and Dr. Lennox Hoyte from Harvard, the region's first uro-gynecologist whose research targets women dealing with intractable incontinence.

Recently, the program also tapped Dr. Lou Rubin, chief of neonatology at the Cleveland Clinic, for the endowed chair in neonatology. So that you know, the Cleveland Clinic is the nation's fourth-best hospital.

It's worth noting how most regions co-brand their medical schools with their teaching hospitals. In Gainesville it's "Shands Hospital at the University of Florida." In Miami, it's the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital.

But try to find USF's name on the billboards promoting Tampa General's orthopedics department. Because of personalities and politics, it's not there.

Yet the medical school and Moffitt Cancer Center lie at the heart of Tampa Bay's aspirations for a high-tech economy. Such potential is why Orlando and Miami fought to build Florida's fourth and fifth medical schools.

To enhance the stature of our region, Tampa Bay's health care leaders should maximize our assets, forego silos and find more places to develop and co-brand programs with USF Health.

It's time to decide. Does this region want some of the nation's best hospitals, or do we want to continue sending patients elsewhere?

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