The best of health.

• Author: Martin, Cathy
• Position: Company rankings - Statistical table

For the third consecutive year, Rex Hospital tops Business North Carolina's annual ranking of Tar Heel hospitals. A partner of Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care since 2000, the Raleigh hospital achieved the highest composite score on the list, which is based on 18 criteria. Rex, founded in 1894 by tanner John Rex, distinguishes itself because fewer of its patients are readmitted or suffer complications from surgeries. The 660-bed hospital scored high in patient satisfaction, which reflects considerations including attentiveness of staff, cleanliness and a patient's overall outlook on their stay. The rankings include the state's adult, acute-care hospitals with 50 beds or more. Specialty hospitals and government hospitals, including those run by the Veterans Health Administration, are excluded. Rankings are calculated by examining data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, U.S. News & World Report and The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for hospital transparency. New criteria for 2015 include overall hospital readmission rates and readmission rates for hip and knee replacements, which Medicare reported for the first time last year. Other metrics include readmission and death rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. More weight is assigned to some criteria, such as patient satisfaction. Scoring was close--nine hospitals missed the top 25 by just one or two points. More rankings can be viewed online at www.BusinessNC.com.

Rex Healthcare named Steve Burriss interim president in January, The Raleigh-based health system's flagship hospital earned the top spot on our list again this year. Burriss, 48, has worked at Rex since 1998.

BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S Best hospitals 2015 2014 Rank Rank Hospital Location Beds Score 1 1 Rex Hospital Raleigh 660 75 2 2 Mission Hospital Asheville 763 74 3 13 New Hanover Regional Wilmington 769 70 Medical Center 4 3 Duke University Durham 957 68 Hospital 5 8 Cone Health (1) Greensboro, 845 66 Reidsville 6 5 FirstHealth Moore Pinehurst, 494 65 Regional Hospital Rockingham, (2) Raeford 7 6 Duke Regional Durham 369 62 Hospital 8 16 CaroMont Regional Gastonia 435 61 Medical Center 18 Duke Raleigh Raleigh 186 61 Hospital 9 Novant Health Winston-Salem, 971 61 Forsyth Medical Kernersville Center (3) 11 9 Carolinas Medical Charlotte 1,132 60 Center (4) 13 UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill 830 60 18 Wake Forest Baptist Winston-Salem 885 60 Medical Center 3 WakeMed Raleigh Raleigh 704 60 Campus 15 23 CarolinaEast Medical New Bern 350 59 Center 9 Frye Regional Hickory 355 59 Medical Center 17 15 High Point Regional High Point 351 58 Hospital 18 Novant Health Charlotte 702 58 Presbyterian Medical Center 19 9 Carolinas Medical Concord 457 57 Center-NorthEast 20 -- Nash General Hospital Rocky Mount 345 54 21 -- Carolinas HeathCare Morganton, 315 53 System...