The 2008 list of Best Hospitals Honor Roll was released July 10, 2008 by U.S. News & World Report. Of 5,453 medical centers nationwide, the rankings placed University of California, San Francisco Medical Center at number seven, with its Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery at number four.

"We are delighted to be part of a department recognized in this way," says Clinical Nurse Specialist and Administrative Nurse for the Memory and Aging Center Rosalie Gearhart. The Memory and Aging Center is housed within the UCSF Department of Neurology. "We are committed to caring for our patients and their families, as well as advancing the understanding and treatment of dementia."

Of the 5,453 medical centers considered, 170 hospitals were ranked in one or more specialties and, of those, 19 made the Honor Roll. To make the Honor Roll, a hospital had to achieve high scores in at least six of the 16 specialties.

To be ranked for neurology and neurosurgery, the hospital must meet at least one of three standards: membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals, affiliation with a medical school or availability of at least six out of 13 key technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and robotic surgery. If the hospital meets the first criterion, then the department must also have discharged at least 321 patients or have been named among the best in neurology and neurosurgery by at least one surveyed neurologist or neurosurgeon in the last three years. Finally, the hospitals received a score equally weighted across reputation, death rate and care-related services such as an Alzheimer’s center, genetic testing and counseling, hospice, palliative care and translators.

To read the full methodology from RTI International, click here.