For the 18th straight year, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ranks among "America’s Best Hospitals" in U.S. News and World Report’s 18th annual list. The Iowa City institution has eight of its specialties ranked in the top 40 and two specialties in the top ten. Donna Katen-Bahensky, CEO of the U-of-I hospital, says it’s rewarding to repeatedly get the national recognition.

"The two that are in the top ten have been in the top ten for the 18 years they’ve been on the list, so we’ve always been in that top ten but there are two that have made it this year that were not previously on the list so that really pleases us as well," Katen-Bahensky says. The magazine’s survey ranks the U-of-I hospital’s otolaryngology department as second-best in the U.S., while the division of ophthalmology ranked number-six.

Katen-Bahensky says: "They’re very well known around the world in some areas that are unique to us. Cochlear implants, for example, some of the work being done in pediatric E-N-T related to genetics. Ophthalmology, we have an international reputation in the treatment and diagnosis of macular degeneration which is a very significant problem worldwide."

Other specialties at the hospital that made the list include: orthopedic surgery (16), urology (22), kidney disease (26), gynecology (32), digestive disorders (40), and neurology and neurosurgery (18). The latter two did not make last year’s rankings. Katen-Bahensky says she was thrilled to see the hospital’s placement in so many areas, but says some very innovative departments are still being overlooked by the magazine.

Katen-Bahensky says, "I’ve always felt like there were a couple of areas that should be on the list. One is our cancer program and the other is our heart program, but we also know there are lots of those programs that are very good around the country. We just keep plugging away to continually improve." The list will be published in the magazine’s July 23rd issue, which hits newsstands July 16th. The complete list is at " www.usnews.com ".