Just a quick q - what is an example of a top wealthy school that went from, say #15 in 2008 to not in the top 50 In 2017 (aside from uchicago med)? Is there some other example of a top school falling so hard, so fast in the rankings? Can you give me some examples?
Probably not a “top” school but there are several examples of decent schools flying up the rankings and falling down a few notches shortly thereafter. Northeastern comes to mind but there are others. University of IA is a perfectly decent state school that has fallen 12 spots in 3 years. As I said, very easy to do when you are lower in the rankings. With respect to med. centers, all it takes is several competitors to nudge you out and down you plummet. It needn’t mean you are “worse” than you used to be (although it certainly COULD suggest that). What it CAN mean, in the hyper competitive environment for ratings, is that others have been quicker than you to climb to the top - or your eye is just off the ball. As I mentioned prior, UChicago might be viewing the purpose of its hospital system a tad differently than a Mayo or a Cleveland Institute or even a Northwestern.
I go back to the question - how does UChicago’s health system function now vs., say, 10 years ago? Better, worse or the same? That tells you more about UChicago Hospitals than do the rankings. However, there is no doubt that rankings are going to be generally correlated with success and $$$'s.
Also, just because you are very interested in rankings (and you can verify these for accuracy because I’m going off memory . . .), on the liberal arts side of things Bard - which is an excellent school in NY state, went from something like 35 to currently 49. Why? Because other LAC’s have aggressively decided to climb the ladder. And my oldest’s art school Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (a relatively specialized curriculum) went from #10 - Regional Universities (North) a few years ago to “Unranked” today. Ironically, it’s a far more selective and promising institution now than it was just five years ago. Pratt has been well known as a nationally-ranked art/design school for decades now, and ‘losing’ a USNews ranking has no impact (since it’s clientele - i.e. design students and their families - use other criteria than USNews to judge this kind of specialized school).
There’s enough diversity among hospital systems to draw a better comparison to specialized colleges than to large universities. As I mentioned prior, you really can’t compare UChicago Hospitals to Mayo and not just because the south side of Chicago isn’t Rochester MN. The two are very different systems, even if both were picked up and re-planted in the same corn field.
I saw my cardiologist at UChicago Med Center yesterday for a preventive care check up. I do have a slight problem with high cholesterol which is under control. I don’t live in Chicago but pass through several times during the year. I see my doc at our medical center because he is terrifically informed and up-to-date with current research and practice. I could not find a better cardiologist in Chicago, no matter what the rankings say. And going to the medical center at UChicago helps support the university. Also, when I am in Chicago if possible I stay at the Quadrangle Club (where I am posting from). Alumni can help support UChicago by utilizing some of the services it provides as well as through direct donations. From the news in this thread it seems to need all the help it can get.
@goweg - alumni can stay at the Quad Club, or do you still have to be faculty?
Alumni can most certainly stay at the Quad Club. They are happy to have you. Staff is very nice. The one privileged area that comes to mind is I only have lunch in the second floor dining room if I am with friends who are faculty here.
@groweg
I am curious what your Dr. had to say about these rankings when you asked him. Please tell me the topic came up!
I did not ask him about the rankings. He is an extremely knowledgeable doctor about cardiology and about other concerns. He went to medical school at UChicago and has been at UChicago for 34 years… He is highly dedicated to the university and to his profession. Best doctor I have ever seen.
Would be shocked to find crappy doctors at UChicago. About 30 years ago I had a first time flare up of iritis (which I had never heard of) and was correctly diagnosed by a resident opthomologist after presenting myself with a suspected case of pink eye. Good thing she caught it (untreated iritis is serious, indeed). I was her first case and she had to check the results of my exam with a superior to make sure what she was seeing made sense with her diagnosis but she nailed it. My eye disease and I probably made her day. Now that I think of it, she must have been brand new as the residents usually turn over in July and that was just about the time I showed up there.
While it is interesting to try to figure out why the medical center’s rankings have dropped so precipitously, I have an ongoing personal experience to report. Last Friday I was getting ready to start a new semester of teaching at my university in Kansas. I noticed a “floater” in my field of vision of the left eye which shortly turned into total blindness in that eye. I got in to see the local ophthalmologist right away. He called a vitreous hemorrhage and said I needed an ultrasound on my eye to determine the cause and referred me to a vitreal retinal surgery group in a bigger city in Kansas. I called UChicago Ophthalmology and was able to talk to a resident. She said I would be seen as soon as I arrived at the medical center (which would be on the weekend). She went into a detailed explanation of three possible causes for the bleeding in my eye and their treatment. I decided to drive to Chicago (with one functioning eye). The resident gave me a number with instructions to call as soon as I got close to campus. I made it and received a B-scan ultrasound on Sunday from the on-call resident. I met with the attending today (Monday). I have surgery Wednesday. The first half of the video linked to below shows the operating room facilities at UChicago and interviews with UChicago Doctors Hariprasad and Reidy. The link was sent to me by a staff member.
https://iqmediacorp.com/ClipPlayer/?ClipID=bc0af7d7-69ea-4c03-888b-ba3ce36a4373
From my experience so far, the doctors here are fantastically smart and skilled. “Bedside manner” with the ability to instill confidence and optimism is incredible. JBStillFlying is right about the doctors at UChicago.
I believe the video shows heavy investment in having cutting-edge equipment and facilities and the best doctors. I am glad I made the long ride to be here.
(Ophthalmology was not included in the rankings listed and discussed on this thread.)
Underwent surgery yesterday. It was fast.It started at noon and I took a selfie of myself changed back into street clothes at 1:52. To my great relief, the procedure was without pain. The only slight discomfort came with putting certain of the drops in my eye pre-surgery and the startup of the IV. The entire team was highly professional. Contacts with not only my attending but also the anesthesiologist, nurses, and residents were positive and comforting. They were happy that an alum drove 770 miles for treatment at the medical center.
In a post-op meeting today Dr. Hariprasad tells me I had a whopping 5 retinal tears that were closed with laser treatment. He said that since I suffered retinal detachment it was crucial that the surgery came quickly after symptoms first appeared. I am very glad my surgery was just three days after initial assessment in Chicago and 5 days after symptom onset.
My two doctors at UChicago, Sorrentino for preventive cardiology and Hariprasad for ophthalmology are dedicated, hard-working, communicative, thoroughly knowledgeable, and professional. When things are serious, UChicago is the place to come.
DavidPuddy’s thought about asking a UChicago doctor about the slip in rankings is a great idea. But for now, they and I have more immediate concerns.
Please excuse my posts here being a personal outlet for my recent medical odysseys.
Now it is time for resting my eyes.
@groweg and others - I’m sure the physicians themselves at Chicago are top-notch, and capable of providing first-rate care. This is just the floor for the top rung of hospitals, though.
Is it not the case that physicians at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, etc. are highly trained and capable of providing first-rate care? The difference is, in terms of pioneering research, research funding, and cutting-edge medicine (what the ranking measures), it appears Chicago is falling behind.
In our competitive healthcare marketplace, I’m confident that dozens and dozens of places offer great care. Chicago used to, though, also be on the vanguard as a top 20 hospital, nationally.
It’s not there any more. Per the recent rankings, it’s nowhere close to there any more.
While I do not know how the City of Chicago rankings are done, I doubt more research would boost those. Helping make people more aware of some of the excellent care given at the hospitals may increase patients and revenues. Increased resources may enhance research productivity. I am not so much disputing there is a problem as suggesting a small way of alleviating it.
The leaders of organizations influence their level of success. There is plenty of business research (some of which has been done at Booth) demonstrating that corporate CEO’s influence their company’s profitability. Maybe that is a place to look regarding the medical center. Also, changes in the population the hospital serves may be causing economic stresses to the hospital. Why not call the office of the president of the medical to get their take on this? They would know more than posters on this website.
Here is a link to the web page of the president of the medical center. It has her e-mail and phone number. I don’t know for sure, but I bet she will respond if you tell her about the cogent observations made on this thread and ask her opinion.
Since I was in western Kansas when I had a vitreous hemorrhage of the eye last week I looked at University of Colorado vs. UChicago on a physician-by-physician basis in ophthalmology. I could have gone to either. Going to University of Colorado would have been much closer. To me, UChicago physicians came out clearly superior. Make the comparison and see for yourself. Maybe these ratings are not particularly valid or useful.
@groweg just curious how you were able to go out of state to a university medical center on your insurance. I assume out of network. How was it approved so quickly or did you bypass all of that by paying gout of pocket? Rankings aside, most people are locked in to the doctors within a small circumference of their home address due to the vagaries of insurance.
WISdad23: Good point. Without going into too many details, a combination of major medical coverage, a true medical emergency, and local options not feasible.
At the one-week post-op visit I received the news that “we saved your eye.” I could not be happier with my care at UChicago medical center. With terrific doctors like Seenu Hariprasad in ophthalmology and Matthew Sorrentino in cardiology on staff I am skeptical of hospital ratings if they show UChicago medical center declining. My doctors there are the best.