Alaska Regional Hospital is featured in U.S. News & World Report's recently published "2010 - 2011 Best Hospitals" study as the 47th best hospital in the country for orthopedics. The study, which evaluated nearly 5,000 hospitals for 16 adult specialties ranging from cancer to urology, used data related to patient outcomes and quality of care, physician perception, and staffing rates in its ranking methodology. Alaska Regional is the only Alaska facility listed in the top 50 hospitals for any of the 16 specialties.

Annie Holt, Alaska Regional's Chief Executive Officer, said, "Not only are we proud to be listed among the top 50 hospitals in the United States for orthopedic care, we're ecstatic to be representing the entire state of Alaska in the Best Hospitals publication."

Ro Kline, R.N., who oversees Alaska Regional's Orthopedic and Spine Center, says, "We're honored that our program has been highlighted, and we believe its our emphasis on patient education and individualized care which contributes our patients' achievement of independence, physical function and positive outcomes after surgery."

The "Best Hospitals" report can be found online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and is featured in the August print issue of U.S.News & World Report, which became available on newsstands July 27. The report includes rankings of medical centers nationwide in 16 specialties, including cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose, and throat, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, heart and heart surgery, kidney disorders, neurology and neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, psychiatry, pulmonology, rehabilitation, rheumatology, and urology. Full data is available online for another 1,740 hospitals that qualified for ranking but did not score high enough to be ranked.