According to Cleverly + Associates, a health care consulting firm, the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center can be considered one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States. Cleverly + Associates uses a proprietary methodology called the Community Value Index to rank hospitals which considers the value the hospital adds to its community. The Index takes into consideration factors such as financial strength and reinvestment, cost of care, pricing and quality. Penn State Hershey was also awarded the Community High Value Five-Star distinction by scoring in the top 20 percent among high-intensity teaching hospitals. The hospital was one of six from Pennsylvania to make the list.

The ranking is good news for one of the primary hospitals in the Central Pennsylvania region, but unfortunately the numbers don’t quite match up with the recently released US News and World Report Best Hospitals report. According to US News, Penn State Hershey cannot be considered one of the top 100 hospitals in any specialty. This includes, surprisingly, pediatric oncology, which is of course where all of the funding from THON is directed.

That being said, the US News report did show that Penn State Hershey rates above the national average in regards to patient satisfaction, which is what should be really considered. Our city slicker neighbors to the east and west, however, can both boast hospitals named to the Honor Roll, having achieved Top 100 rankings in at least 6 specialties. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia was ranked the 9th best hospital in the United States with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center coming in at 13th. For the 20th year in a row Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was ranked as the best hospital in the US.

Either way you slice it though, Penn State Hershey continues to offer a level of patient care that is above the national average, and only stands to get better with the completion of the new Children’s Hospital building.

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