The Lown Institute on Tuesday released its list of the top 50 hospitals for racial inclusivity, highlighting hospitals that are especially effective at serving people of color in their surrounding communities.
Methodology
For the list, the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan health care think tank, developed a racial inclusivity metric to assess how more than 3,200 hospitals in the United States served people of color in their local communities.
To develop the metric, Lown looked at Medicare claims from 2018, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data from 2018. Using that data, Lown assessed the share of various ethnic and racial groups among the hospital patients' ZIP codes and in the community area ZIP codes for people ages 65 and older, including:
- American Indian/Alaskan Native;
- Asian;
- Black or African American;
- Hispanic or Latino;
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander;
- Other;
- Two or more races; and
- White (non-Hispanic or Latino).
Lown then scored each hospital based on how well the demographics of the hospital's community area matched the demographics of its Medicare patient population. Lown defined "community area" as the "distance from which about 90% of the hospital's Medicare patients travel," according to the list methodology.
The top 50 hospitals for racial inclusivity
The rankings found that, even within the same urban area, some hospitals served significantly more diverse populations than others.
Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said, "The difference between the most and least inclusive hospitals is stark, especially when they are blocks away from each other." Saini added, "Hospital leaders have a responsibility to better serve people of color and create a more equitable future."
The top 50 hospitals on Lown Institute's rankings, which include 28 Advisory Board members, were:
- Metropolitan Hospital Center (New York)*;
- Boston Medical Center (Boston)*;
- St. Charles Madras (Madras, Oregon)*;
- Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (Newark, New Jersey)*;
- Little Colorado Medical Center (Winslow, Arizona);
- Presbyterian Espanola Hospital (Espanola, New Mexico);
- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital (Chicago)*;
- Harlem Hospital Center (New York)*;
- Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center (Chamberlain, South Dakota);
- Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center (New York)*;
- Park Plaza Hospital (Houston)*;
- Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill (Kansas City, Missouri)*;
- Temple University Hospital (Philadelphia);
- John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital (Indio, California);
- Plantation General Hospital (Plantation, Florida)*;
- Methodist Dallas Medical Center (Dallas)*;
- South Coast Global Medical Center (Santa Ana, California);
- Medstar Washington Hospital Center (Washington, D.C.);
- Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center (Atlanta)*;
- Lehigh Regional Medical Center (Lehigh Acres, Florida)*;
- Queens Hospital Center (New York)*;
- St. Catherine Hospital (Chicago);
- Shands Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Florida);
- Memorial Hospital (Stillwell, Oklahoma);
- Hoboken University Medical Center (Hoboken, New Jersey);
- Research Medical Center (Kansas City, Missouri)*;
- Vista Medical Center East (Waukegan, Illinois);
- Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital (Sitka, Alaska);
- Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Elizabeth, New Jersey);
- Harris Health System (Houston)*;
- Banner-University Medical Center South Campus (Tuscon, Arizona)*;
- Howard University Hospital (Washington, D.C.)*;
- UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center (Rio Rancho, New Mexico);
- Erie County Medical Center (Buffalo, New York)*;
- Parkland Health & Hospital System (Dallas);
- Hale County Hospital (Greensboro, Alabama);
- Claiborne County Hospital (Tazewell, Tennessee);
- Palisades Medical Center (North Bergen, New Jersey);
- UM Prince George's Hospital Center (Cheverly, Maryland)*;
- CarePoint Health-Christ Hospital (Jersey City, New Jersy);
- The University of Chicago Medical Center (Chicago)*;
- Sinai-Grace Hospital (Detroit);
- Albert Einstein Medical Center (Philadelphia)*;
- Mt. Sinai Hospital Medical Center (Chicago)*;
- Forks Community Hospital (Forks, Washington);
- Emory University Hospital Midtown (Atlanta)*;
- Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital (Richmond, Virginia)*;
- Thedacare Medical Center-Shawano (Shawano, Wisconsin)*;
- University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus (Baltimore)*; and
- Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center (New York)*.
*denotes Advisory Board member
(Lown Institute Top 50 Hospitals for Racial Inclusivity list, 5/25; Lown Institute methodology, 5/25; Gooch, Becker's Hospital Review, 5/25).