Nine BJC HealthCare hospitals were named to U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals

A twinge in your chest. A high-risk pregnancy. A diabetes diagnosis. These are just some of the symptoms or conditions that might send you scrambling online to research where you can go to receive the best care when something about your health is worrying you.

One source that often pops up in Google: U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals, launched in 1990 to identify the best medical centers for patients facing a life-threatening or rare illness. Now, the rankings grade hospitals in both specialty areas and common procedures and conditions, and recently the publication named a slate of BJC HealthCare hospitals to its register, with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine once again listed on the prestigious Honor Roll, a roundup of the top 20 hospitals in the nation.

Barnes-Jewish also retained its ranking as the No. 1 hospital in Missouri, and thus, No. 1 in the St. Louis area. The hospital ranked in 11 specialties and received a rating of high performing in 18 procedures and conditions. In addition to Barnes-Jewish, eight other BJC HealthCare hospitals were named in the hospital rankings or ratings.

Rankings and ratings aside, every day BJC HealthCare is leading the way, be it by discovering breakthrough treatments, using advanced procedures to deliver life-changing care, or working to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the communities we serve. Here are some ways we’re delivering extraordinary care that the rankings don’t reveal:

• Patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital have access to leading-edge treatments thanks to research from one of the top-ranked medical schools in the nation, Washington University. Recently, Washington University surgeons performed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S. at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

• Last year, at Missouri Baptist Medical Center — the first and only hospital in St. Louis County to be named a Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center — the Childbirth Center delivered 3,639 babies, bringing new lives into the St. Louis community.

• Christian Hospital was the first community hospital in the St. Louis region to perform an open-heart procedure, in 1983. Today, it continues to expertly treat patients who are experiencing heart issues with research-based, life-saving, and rapid care: In 2023, its Emergency Medical Services received an award from the American Heart Association for excellence in heart attack care.

• Healthy Kids Express, a St. Louis Children’s Hospital program, delivers care outside of the hospital’s walls by visiting schools and daycares to check on students’ hearing, vision, dental health, asthma and more. Drawing on its history of diabetes treatment — in 1922, St. Louis Children’s Hospital was the first to treat a diabetic infant in the U.S. with insulin — Healthy Kids Express launched the nation’s first mobile diabetes unit to help families manage the disease. In total, Healthy Kids Express performed more than 67,000 community health visits in 2022.

• Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital was the first hospital in St. Charles County to offer robotic-assisted surgery, giving surgeons greater precision and control and often reducing the risk of complications and shortening recovery times. The hospital also recently added technology that helps perform robotic-assisted lung biopsies.

• Progress West Hospital’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit is staffed by Washington University neonatologists and pediatric hospitalists who care for premature babies born as early as 31 weeks.

• In June, Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital launched its orthopedic surgery program. The program partners with an accredited imaging program and a state-of-the-art Therapy and Wellness Center, allowing patients from Crawford, Franklin and Washington counties to receive their orthopedic care — from pre-operative imaging through rehabilitation — close to home.

• Serving St. Francois County, Parkland Health Center’s Cardiac Cath Lab provides diagnostics and treatment procedures along with cardiac rehabilitation at the Huckstep Heart & Lung Center. Parkland Health Center’s heart specialists have decades of experience in diagnosing, managing and treating varying levels of heart conditions, offering high-quality heart care right in the community.

• Memorial Hospital Belleville and sister facility Memorial Hospital Shiloh are acute care facilities offering a full range of medical, surgical and diagnostic treatment services to residents in Metro East. In June, Memorial Hospital performed its first transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Previously, patients who needed this procedure would have to travel to St. Louis.

• Further north in Illinois, Alton Memorial, a full-service, acute care hospital, launched a new mobile health and wellness van to serve people with substance use disorders.

• At Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, Washington University physicians offer both nonsurgical and surgical options for people who are looking to achieve their permanent weight loss goals and live a healthy and active life.

For more information about how BJC HealthCare can help you live your healthiest life, visit BJC.org/deserve.