2023 North Carolina's BEST HOSPITALS.

• Author: Ellis, Kevin

Moses Cone Hospital received top honors in Business North Carolina's annual ranking of the state's best hospitals. The largest hospital owned by Greenboro-based Cone Health tied for the No. 1 spot in the 2022 ranking.

The list uses calculations of more than 25 health care metrics, including data sourced from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The report includes patient-satisfaction surveys, infections, readmissions and mortality rates for common procedures. Other data includes findings from 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.

Various hospitals improved their rankings this year. WakeMed Health & Hospitals moved from fifth in 2022 to second place. FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital jumped from 14th to a tie for third.

The methodology to create this list tends to favor large institutions because they gain more points based on national awards and performance rankings. Smaller hospitals perform fewer procedures, which eliminates those institutions from select categories that are used for calculations.

01 CONE HEALTH MOSES CONE HOSPITAL GREENSBORO

BEDS: 529 2022 RANK: T-1 PRESIDENT: PRESTON HAMMOCK

Cone Health is adding a five-story, 156,000-square foot tower at its flagship Moses Cone Hospital campus to aid heart and vascular patients. The project broke ground late last year and is expected to be completed in 2025. An adjacent 775-space parking deck is planned. The project complements a smaller heart and vascular center that is under construction at Cone Health's Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington. It involves a renovation of 49,000 square feet and 14,000 square feet of additional space.

Also last year, Mary Jo Cagle became the health system's first female CEO and first physician to serve in the role. She was previously chief operating officer after joining the authority in 2011.

02 WAKEMED HEALTH & HOSPITALS RALEIGH

BEDS: 726 2022 RANK: T-5 CEO, PRESIDENT: DONALD GINTZIG

The Raleigh-based not-for-profit entity controls more than half of Wake County's licensed hospital beds, though it is a smaller institution than local peers UNC Health and Duke Health. WakeMed is seeking state approval for two major projects: a $137 million, 150-bed behavioral health hospital in Knightdale and a 45-bed acute-care hospital in Garner. Knightdale Town Manager Bill Summers wrote a letter in October opposing the WakeMed plan, saying the town doesn't believe it is the best use for the land to be developed into a hospital. Duke and UNC are also seeking to expand in the county, arguing their plans are better than WakeMed's Garner expansion.

WakeMed had a lengthy battle last year with UnitedHealthcare after the big insurer and hospital system argued over reimbursement politics, rates and insurance claim errors. The two sides signed a three-year contract in November, after WakeMed hospitals and clinics had been out-of-network for thousands of patients for four months.

03 DUKE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL DURHAM

BEDS: 957 2022 RANK: T-1 PRESIDENT: THOMAS OWENS

Eugene Washington, president and CEO of Duke University Health System and Duke's chancellor for health affairs, plans to step down from both roles--which he's served in since 2015--in June. During his tenure at Duke Health, he was instrumental in creating new strategic initiatives and shifting Duke's focus to promoting health, especially during the pandemic. His successor is Chief Operating Officer Craig Albanese.

One of the institution's cardiology researchers is the first U.S. investigator to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health, which will aid in the creation of a drone network able to deliver automated external defibrillators, a life-saving intervention during heart attacks.

Last summer, the hospital launched its hospital-based violence intervention program through a partnership with Bull City United. The anti-gun violence agency, which is funded by Durham County and the city of Durham, meets victims' families in the hospital, attempts to mediate disagreements and connect involved parties with social services.

03 TIED FIRSTHEALTH MOORE REGIONAL HOSPITAL PINEHURST

BEDS: 390 2022 RANK: T-14 PRESIDENT: MICKEY FOSTER

A $68 million cancer center opening in March on the Moore Regional Hospital campus in Pinehurst will change the way FirstHealth treats cancer patients from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship. Patients will not only...