CLEVELAND, Ohio — While COVID-19 is disproportionally striking people of color, a new ranking system is grading hospitals on their commitment to equity, inclusivity and community health.
The Lown Institute Hospitals Index compared the performance of about 3,300 hospitals across the country, measuring civic leadership and commitment to providing high-quality care, the institute said in a statement.
Mercy Health - West Hospital in Cincinnati ranked No. 1 among Ohio hospitals on the index, followed by Ohio State University Hospitals in Columbus at No. 2.
MetroHealth System and Cleveland Clinic’s South Pointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights ranked seventh and tenth, respectively. All top 10 hospitals earned A+ ratings.
Summa Health and Lake Health ranked in the top 35 with A ratings. University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic earned B+ rankings. Some of the Clinic’s satellite hospitals, such as Fairview and Medina hospitals, ranked higher.
“At a time when communities are relying on (hospitals) like never before, hospitals must rethink what it means to be great,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, in a statement. “To be great, a hospital cannot only provide care that’s high in quality. It must also deliver value and advance equality.”
The Lown Institute is a nonpartisan think tank based in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“No other hospital ranking provides a 360-degree view of hospital performance,” Lown Institute senior vice president Shannon Brownlee said in a statement. “Many of the best-known hospitals score highly on patient outcomes but poorly on civic leadership and value of care. Our data show that it’s possible to do well in all three categories, because some hospitals are doing it.”
The index combined scores for civic leadership, value of care and patient outcomes into a measure of overall hospital performance, the institute said.
Civic leadership looked at how much hospitals spend on community benefits, the proportion of low-income patients they serve and how well they care for minority patients. It also measured the ratio of executive pay to the salaries of employees without advanced degrees.
In Ohio, top hospitals in civic leadership were located in Portsmouth, Columbus and Bucyrus.
Value of care looked at instances of overuse of low-value procedures and tests, such as ordering imaging tests for a simple headache. The top Ohio hospitals for value of care were MetroHealth, the Clinic and Mercy Health-West Hospital in Cincinnati.
Patient outcomes and quality of care were determined using a risk-adjustment algorithm that predicts outcomes, the institute said. In Ohio, top hospitals on patient outcomes and quality of care were in Cincinnati and Columbus.
Data came from the Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other databases.
Ohio’s Top 10 Hospitals
1. Mercy Health - West Hospital, Cincinnati
2. Ohio State University Hospitals, Columbus
3. East Liverpool City Hospital, East Liverpool
4. Knox Community Hospital, Mount Vernon
5. Mercy Hospital Clermont, Batavia
6. Alliance Community Hospital, Alliance
7. MetroHealth System, Cleveland
8. Fisher-Titus Hospital, Norwalk
9. The Toledo Hospital, Toledo
10. South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Heights