Choosing to Live in Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins Hospital…Ranked #1 in the US

Choosing to Live in Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins Hospital…Ranked #1 in the US

For the 19^th year in a row, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD is ranked #1 in the U.S. according to the U.S. News & World Report, "America's Best Hospitals 2009-10." Those of us who live and work in Baltimore know about "The Hop," but sometimes we forget what a remarkable institution it is.

There are four academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, and 18 primary health care outpatient sites under the Johns Hopkins Medicine umbrella. Best known of these are The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. With more than 30,000 employees, Johns Hopkins is one of Maryland's largest private employers and generates an economic impact on Maryland to the tune of $6.4 billion per year.

Because Johns Hopkins is a research center as well as a top-ranked hospital, scientists here in Baltimore receive many federal research grants, and its School of Medicine boasts 20 Nobel laureates, including Professor Carol Greider, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2009.

Choosing to Live in Baltimore,Md. Johns Hopkins Hospital…Ranked #1 in the US

All this excellence began with the hospital's opening in 1889. A walk or drive around the hospital's Baltimore City campus will show you how the historic buildings blend with the newer additions. Now that spring is finally here the trees are blooming and give the old brick buildings a new look. The various signs give you a sense of the specialties that Hopkins is famous for. The names carved into marble show how old some of these specialties are - the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic dates back to 1912! Fortunately, Active Rainers have a community that helps keep them out of such places. There are also associated organizations, like the Kennedy Kreiger Institute, which is not part of Hopkins Medicine but is adjacent to the campus and treats children and adolescents with pediatric developmental disabilities.

There have been many “firsts” here. Johns Hopkins was the first major school of medicine in the U.S. to admit women, the first to develop CPR, first to use rubber gloves during surgery, the first to do dialysis, and performed the first “blue baby” operation which led to our modern cardiac surgery. Hopkins is also the birthplace of many medical specialties, including my former specialty, pediatrics.

When you have something as special as Johns Hopkins Hospital and it’s just 15 minutes from your home in Baltimore, how can you not rave about it?

Choosing to Live in Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins Hospital…Ranked #1 in the US