UT MD Anderson named nation's top hospital for cancer in U.S. News & World Report survey

MD Anderson News Release July 16, 2012

MD Anderson News Release 07/16/12

For the sixth consecutive year, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has been named the nation's top hospital for cancer care, according to the "Best Hospitals" survey published annually by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Also nationally ranked are MD Anderson specialty services, including ear, nose and throat (#5); gynecology (#6) and urology (#23). Other specialties, which earned "High Performing" rankings in the national survey, were gastroenterology, geriatrics, nephrology and orthopedics.

In a separate survey of pediatric hospitals conducted earlier this year, MD Anderson's Children's Cancer Hospital was ranked number 15 in the nation.

In the last 11 years, MD Anderson has been ranked number one in cancer care nine times. Since the survey launched in 1990, it has been listed as one of the top two hospitals for cancer care in the nation.

"Everyone at MD Anderson - each one of our 19,000-plus employees and 1,100 volunteers - contributed to us remaining the number one cancer center in the nation," said Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., who is experiencing the national ranking for the first time as president of MD Anderson. "It's an honor we share with all of our patients, survivors and their loved ones, who challenge and motivate us every day to pursue our mission, advance our knowledge and improve each person's experience at our institution."

MD Anderson has grown in clinical and research activity, square footage and outreach throughout the last decade. Since September, when DePinho joined MD Anderson, new growth opportunities have been directed toward an innovative scientific offensive against cancer.

Employment continues to tick upward with MD Anderson hiring a variety of positions, primarily laboratory scientists, research assistants, clinical nurses, research nurses and patient care support staff. One of Houston's largest employers, MD Anderson has openings at its four regional care centers as well as the Texas Medical Center location.

While new building construction and renovations continue, two facilities opened this past year and one was razed to make room for new patient care structures.

New floors in the expanded Albert B. and Margaret M. Alkek Hospital opened as patient care needs dictated, and the 25-story administrative building, known as Mid Campus Building 1, began filling with MD Anderson departments. The Houston Main Building was imploded late last year and its site will become a temporary park opening late this summer.

Construction of the new Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Building, a 12-story structure is under way with its projected opening in late 2014. The building will house a translational research program that will focus on genetic analysis-based research, diagnosis and treatment.

Undergoing a major renovation is the inpatient unit of the Children's Cancer Hospital. When completed next spring, the new unit will add dedicated pediatric intensive care rooms and a day hospital for outpatient treatment to a larger inpatient unit.

"Cancer has experienced a conceptual and technological revolution," said DePinho. "These transformative advances, together with MD Anderson's critical mass of talent and research infrastructure, provide unprecedented opportunities to dramatically reduce cancer mortality in the near term and set the stage for making cancer history in the decades ahead."

This year, MD Anderson anticipates seeing its one millionth patient since opening in 1944. In 2011, the institution saw more than 108,000 people - about one-third of them new patients. More than 10,000 people were registered on clinical trials exploring new treatments and combinations, the largest such program in the nation.

With 11 Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants, MD Anderson ranks first in the number of grants awarded and the total number of grant dollars from the National Cancer Institute. Last year, MD Anderson research efforts totaled more than $623 million. 

Watch as DePinho describes what makes MD Anderson the number one hospital for cancer care.