The second-best hospital in South Carolina continues to reside in Lexington County.

That’s according to the evaluation of U.S News & World Report’s recently updated Best Hospital rankings, which list Lexington Medical Center as No. 2 in the state behind the MUSC Health-University Medical Center in Charleston.

No other Midlands hospital was listed among the Top Eight facilities singled out for overall recognition among state hospitals.

This is the second-straight year that Lexington Medical Center has been ranked No. 2 in the state.

“Recognition as a Best Hospital by U.S. News & World Report reflects our dedication to delivering advanced medicine and state-of-the-art treatments to promote the health and well-being of our patients and their families. Achieving this prestigious ranking takes years of collaboration and innovation among specialties and providers throughout our organization,” Dr. Brent M. Powers, the hospital’s senior vice president and chief medical officer, is quoted in a release. “We are proud of our exceptional physicians, nurses, clinicians and staff for their continued commitment to providing quality health services that meet the needs of our communities.”

The magazine additionally rated Lexington Medical Center as “high performing” when it comes to 12 conditions and procedures: back surgery (spinal fusion); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; colon cancer surgery; diabetes; heart attack; heart failure; hip fracture; hip replacement; kidney failure; knee replacement; leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; and prostate cancer surgery.

To determine this year’s rankings and honors, the magazine states that it “evaluated each hospital's performance using a variety of measures.”

“Some data came from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Standard Analytical File database. Other information came from the American Hospital Association and professional organizations,” it details.

“We put the heaviest reliance on outcomes because of the self-evident connection between a patient's outcomes, including survival and the quality of their care. Other data, such as the number of patients and the ratio of nurses and patients, are less obviously related to quality, but ample research supports the connection. [A] physician survey also played a role, though it accounted for only slightly more than one-fourth of each hospital's score.”

The rankings have been updated annually since 1990.

“U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals across 15 specialties and 21 procedures and conditions; only 12% of evaluated hospitals earned a Best Hospitals ranking,” Lexington Medical Center notes. “Hospitals awarded a ‘Best’ designation excelled at factors such as clinical outcomes, level of nursing care and patient experience.”

Lexington Medical Center greatly outstripped other area hospitals as far as the number of procedures/conditions in which it was ranked as high performing, with the hospital being singled out as the No. 1 hospital in Columbia. 

Prisma Health Richland Hospital got the high performing nod in four areas (lung cancer surgery, heart attack, heart failure and stroke), while Prisma Health Baptist Hospital received the distinction in three areas (colon cancer surgery, hip replacement and knee replacement) and MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown (previously Providence Health) was recognized in two areas (heart failure and hip replacement).

Lexington Medical Center’s 607-bed main hospital is located at 2720 Sunset Blvd. in West Columbia.

Per the hospital’s release, “it anchors a health care network that includes five community medical centers and employs a staff of more than 7,800 health care professionals.”