U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) recently ranked UAB Hospital as the best hospital in Alabama, naming several of its specialties as top-ranking in the nation as well. Of the rankings, UAB Hospital’s endocrinology and diabetes specialty came in a number 40 in the nation.
Faculty and staff in the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism play a key role in the clinical ranking of the endocrinology and diabetes specialty. The ranking criteria includes hospital volume, nurse staffing and other resources that define the hospital environment.
Several faculty who call the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism within the Department of Medicine home are also members within the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC), which specializes in diabetes research. While the USNWR ranking is largely clinically-focused, patients’ experiences and outcomes are supported by the translation of UCDC research to the division’s clinics.
“The UCDC is proud to be a leader in diabetes research,” said Anath Shalev, M.D., director of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center. “We know that the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism clinical work is a huge support to our community, and our hope is that our research in turn can benefit this clinical excellence.”
Associate Director of the UCDC and Director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Fernando Ovalle, M.D., is proud of the entire team who made the ranking possible.
“From faculty, to nurses, to trainees, to administrators, we are so grateful for each person who made the national ranking a reality,” said Ovalle. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside our patient care and clinical research teams to elevate care for patients with diabetes in every facet that we can.”
The Best Hospitals specialty rankings assess hospital performance in 15 specialties or specialty areas. In 13 of these, rankings are determined by an extensive data-driven analysis combining performance measures in three primary dimensions of health care: structure, process/expert opinion, and outcomes. In the three other specialties, ranking relies solely on expert opinion.
The UCDC is a University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center comprised of over 200 faculty members from 10 different schools and departments. It also serves as the umbrella for various research programs and awards; including the prestigious P30 Diabetes Research Center (DRC), U01 Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and several research core facilities.