Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines has garnered attention from U.S. News & World Report, which recently ranked it as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” for its heart care and cardiac surgery services.

In its 17th annual survey of health-care quality, the national newsmagazine ranked the Des Moines-based hospital No. 31 in cardiac care, making it one of just 176 hospitals in the country recognized for excellence in 16 specialties. It’s the first time Mercy has been named in the annual survey, which is based in part on a random poll of board-certified physicians from across the country.

“We weren’t even aware that we were being ranked,” said Dr. David Gordon, one of three founding physicians of Iowa Heart Hospital. “They must have pulled data from public records.” Because the most difficult cases are typically referred to university or teaching hospitals, relatively few non-academic hospitals such as Mercy make the list, he said.

Mercy partners with Iowa Heart Center to deliver cardiac services through the Iowa Heart Hospital at Mercy. With 58 heart specialists, cardiac and pulmonary surgeons, Mercy’s heart group is among the largest in the country, Gordon said.

One-third of a hospital’s score in a particular specialty is based on rankings from the physician survey, another third on the mortality rate of Medicare patients at the hospital, and a final third is based on quality-of-care measures such as nurse-to-patient ratios and the number of key technologies available.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was the only other Iowa hospital to be ranked in this year’s U.S. News survey. It received a No. 2 ranking, just below Johns Hopkins Hospital, for ear, nose and throat care. It ranked No. 6 in the country for ophthalmology and No. 7 for orthopedics. The university hospital also ranked among the top 50 hospitals in urology, gynecology and kidney disease treatment.

Iowa Health – Des Moines, which operates Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Blank Children’s Hospital, has never received a ranking from U.S. News, spokeswoman Jennifer Perry said. However, the company has received several national patient-care awards, among them being named a Solucient 100 Top Hospital for cardiovascular services. Both Iowa Methodist and Mercy received that award in 2004.

Mercy’s U.S. News ranking is a reflection of an “upward spiral” of quality driven by the hospital’s collaboration with Iowa Heart Center, said David Vellinga, Mercy’s president and CEO.

“That collaboration has allowed for the continued cooperation, which leads to improved facilities, which attracts better physicians,” Vellinga said. “This is clearly an issue where quality has resulted in Mercy being ranked No. 31 in the country, without even trying to achieve that [ranking].”

About 8,000 patients a year are seen at Mercy’s heart catheterization laboratories to undergo treatment for blocked arteries, many of whom are seen on an emergency basis while they’re having a heart attack. Dr. Mike Iannone, who estimates he has done 50,000 catheterizations since performing his first procedure in 1969, said the level of cooperation allows physicians at Mercy to become highly specialized in subspecialties of cardiac care.

“We don’t have jacks-of-all-trades,” he said. “If someone needs a pacemaker, I’ll refer them to a doctor who does pacemakers all day long.”

Vellinga said the hospital is currently working to achieve the same level of cooperation in three other specialty areas – orthopedics, cancer care and pulmonary/critical care.

“Orthopedics is the most advanced (in this process); we’ve initiated discussions with the large orthopedics groups.” he said.