Keck Hospital of USC is recognized for its strong skills in the most challenging procedures and medical conditions.
USC’s hospitals ranked among nation’s best
Photo by Patrick Davison (left); Photo courtesy of Dilip Parekh, M.D. (right)
By Alison Trinidad
Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital are again recognized among the top hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its annual “Best Hospitals” report. USC-affiliated Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, staffed exclusively by Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty physicians, was also named to the magazine’s Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll and was ranked among the top five in the nation. USC Norris Cancer Hospital was ranked in the top 50 in cancer care (No. 43) and high-performing in nephrology and urology. For the first time, the magazine provided statewide hospital rankings in addition to rankings in select metropolitan areas. Keck Hospital ranked No. 6 in California and No. 3 in the Los Angeles metro area. In specialty areas, this year Keck Hospital was ranked in the top 10 nationally for ophthalmology and among the top 50 for geriatric care and neurology/ neurosurgery. Keck Hospital was also recognized as high-performing in nine additional specialty areas: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; gynecology; nephrology; orthopaedics; pulmonology; and urology. Of the 5,000 hospitals considered nationwide, fewer than 150 are nationally ranked in at least one of 16 medical specialties.
Dilip Parekh, M.D., left, Keck School Department of Surgery, signs an educational and research exchange agreement with Yang-de Zhang, M.D., chair of the World Endoscopy Doctors Association. G LO BA L A L L I A N C E S
USC extends its medical reach in the Pacific Rim H ealth S ciences campus leaders are building bridges between the universit y
and medical providers in China, where efforts to modernize the country’s health care system are leading to growing privatization of health care. The focus on Chinese relations comes at a significant time for the university as a whole, as it works to create alliances with the Pacific Rim, a top priority under USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D. Dozens of senior surgeons from hospitals across China came to USC for training in minimally invasive surgery as part of a new educational and research exchange agreement. Dilip Parekh, M.D., Department of Surgery section chief for hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery in the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Brad Selby, M.B.A., chief administrative officer of the department, helped ink the agreement, which they said provides for as many as 75 Chinese surgeons each year to undergo training in the Department of Surgery at the Health Sciences campus. A high-level delegation of Chinese physicians met with Jacques Van Dam, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the Keck School, during a daylong visit to the Health Sciences campus. As part of the international outreach effort in gastroenterology, visiting physicians and surgeons from Shanghai observed advanced gastrointestinal endoscopy and compared experiences with USC faculty and staff. Van Dam said, “Having learned a great deal from this first-of-its-kind venture, USC faculty now plan to pursue more expanded contacts with Chinese and other international physicians in an effort to establish collaborative programs in training and clinical care.” Six surgeons from the USC Institute of Urology, led by founding executive director Inderbir Gill, M.D., concluded a successful six-day trip to China, where they performed 15 robotic surgeries, including robotic radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. This visit followed a previous one in which the Institute of Urology offered a series of live-surgery symposia to more than 1,800 Chinese urologists. Keck Medical Center of USC Chief Medical Officer Donald Larsen, M.D., M.B.A., is working to standardize processes focused on business development, the operational details of an international patient referral, hospitality for patients and families when they arrive, and aftercare when they return to China. He is looking for Mandarin-speaking staff and physicians who may be interested in serving as liaisons, clinical practitioners and in administrative roles in this new program. keck.usc.edu KeckMedicine 7