2022 North Carolina's BEST HOSPITALS.

• Author: Anderson, Pete M.

Duke University Hospital of Durham and Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital of Greensboro tied for top honors in this year's annual ranking of North Carolina's best hospitals. Even in legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's last year, the quality of the Blue Devil basketball program was not a factor.

Rather, Business North Carolina's annual list is calculated using more than 25 health care metrics, including information collected by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The report includes patient-satisfaction surveys, as well as infection, readmission and mortality rates for common procedures. Other factors include safety report cards by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit The Leapfrog Group, distinction awards from insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and national performance ratings from U.S. News & World Report.

Duke's largest hospital moved up from second in 2021 and fourth a year earlier. Its affiliate in Durham, Duke Regional Hospital, tied for third, moving up from 13th last year. The former county-owned hospital became a partner with the university system in 1998 and changed its name from Durham Regional Hospital in 2013.

Meanwhile, Moses H. Cone has been a longtime top performer, ranking sixth last year, second in 2020 and first in 2019. It is the largest hospital owned by Greensboro-based Cone Health.

Several other big North Carolina hospitals moved up sharply this year. UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill tied for third after ranking 10th in 2021, while WakeMed Health & Hospitals of Raleigh improved to fifth from 15th a year earlier. Among the state's smaller independent operators, CaroMont Health of Gastonia ranked eighth and CarolinaEast Health System of New Bern was 12th.

The methodology used to create our list tends to favor large institutions, which gain more points based on national awards and performance rankings. Fewer procedures are often performed at smaller hospitals, which eliminates them from some ofthe categories that are used for our calculations.

01 TIED

DUKE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

DURHAM

BEDS: 957 2021 RANK: 2 PRESIDENT: THOMAS OWENS

Duke University Hospital placed the final piece of its 11 -floor Duke Central Tower--a $265 million project whose 490,000 square feet includes 350 beds--when it welcomed Duke Children's Hospital in December. It occupies the tower's first four floors, where larger rooms accommodate patients' parents for stays that can stretch for months. There also is an in-house pharmacy service, two pediatric catheterization labs, family zones and activity rooms. Oncology, transplant, orthopedic and neuroscience units had already relocated to the tower. Their former rooms will be renovated.

Duke Healths heart transplant program is among the nation's top six by volume. Last year, its surgeons implanted a new-generation artificial heart in an adult patient, marking a first in North America. Another groundbreaking case involved the country's first heart transplant after circulatory death in a pediatric patient. This type of transplant is not new for the hospital, whose surgeons performed the first such procedure involving an adult patient in 2019.

01 TIED

MOSES H. CONE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

GREENSBORO

BEDS: 529 2021 RANK: T-6 PRESIDENT: PRESTON HAMMOCK

Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital's parent--13,000-employee Cone Health--and Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare mutually ended a merger deal last year that would have created an $11 billion system. Officials said they could better serve their communities by remaining independent. The deal would have given Sentara a better foothold in North Carolina, where it only owns Albemarle Regional in Elizabeth City.

Mary Jo Cagle became Cone Health's CEO in June, the first woman and physician to hold the position. She joined the Greensboro-based health-care system in 2011, when she was named chief quality officer, and she most recently served as chief operating officer. Terry Akin, who had been CEO since 2014, had announced he would step down once the merger with Sentara was complete. President Preston Hammock has led Cone hospital's day-to-day operations since 2019.

03 TIED

DUKE REGIONAL HOSPITAL

DURHAM

BEDS: 369 2021 RANK: T-13 PRESIDENT: KATIE GALBRAITH

Duke University Health System's $102.4 million Behavioral Health Center opened at Duke Regional in April. The center combines services that were offered at Duke University and Duke Regional hospitals. It includes 42 private patient rooms, two secure courtyards, an expanded emergency department with 18 private treatment spaces and 30 outpatient clinic rooms.

For 45 years, the hospital has served Durham, Orange, Person, Granville, Alamance and surrounding counties. It employs more than 3,500 people. President Katie Galbraith has held several responsibilities at Duke since 2001 and has served as Duke Regional's leader for about eight years.

03 TIED

UNC HOSPITALS

CHAPEL HILL

BEDS: 929 2021 RANK: T-10 PRESIDENT: JANET HADAR

UNC Chapel Hill has received more than $1 billion in research awards for two straight years. UNC Hospitals and its affiliated medical school account for a big chunk of the funding. The sister organization of UNC Rex Healthcare ' is a national leader in medical innovation.

Two major construction projects are underway on the Chapel Hill campus: a 172,000-square-foot School of Medi- i cine medical education building, which is expected to open in November, and a 357,000-square-foot surgical tower slated for early 2024. The tower in front of N.C. Memorial Hospital will feature modern surgical spaces and better I patient rooms.

UNC Hospitals is an academic medical center and teaching hospital that is part of UNC Health Care, which owns or operates a dozen hospitals in North Carolina. UNC Health had revenue of about $4.4 billion in its 2020 fiscal year. It has among the strongest credit ratings among U.S. hospitals.

05 TIED

UNC REX HEALTHCARE

RALEIGH

BEDS: 660 2021 RANK: 1 PRESIDENT: ERNIE BOVIO

The UNC Health affiliate opened its $170 million hospital in fast-growing Holly Springs in southeastern Wake County in November, adding 50 inpatient beds, operating rooms, seven labor-and-delivery rooms and an emergency department. About 300 people staff it. Meanwhile, its main campus in west Raleigh is adding a $65 million, 144,000-square-foot cancer center in March. It will supplement suburban cancer treatment sites in four other Wake County locations.

UNC Rex ranks second in market share in Wake County with about 24% of patient revenue, trailing WakeMed Hospitals and Healthcare, according to Fitch Ratings. The unit earned an operating margin of about 7% in the 2021 fiscal year, which is likely to expand to 9% in coming years, the ratings agency estimated.

UNC Rex is the sole hospital in North Carolina, and among only 23 nationally, to receive a top A rating every year since the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based Leapfrog Group started rating hospitals for patient quality and safety in 2012.

05 TIED

WAKEMED HEALTH & HOSPITALS

RALEIGH

BEDS: 726 2021 RANK: T-16 CEO AND PRESIDENT: DONALD GINTZIG

WakeMed was founded in 1961 and now has a leading 44% market share of its primary Wake County service area, a 2% increase over the past two years, according to the Fitch Ratings credit service. The not-for-profit organization has complexes in southeast Raleigh, Cary and north Raleigh, with a network of more than 400 primary-care and specialty physicians.

Fitch reported that a $60 million addition at the Cary location added 60 beds, bringing its total to 208, when it was...