JHH holds its top spot in 'U.S. News' ranking of best hospitals

For the 11th consecutive year, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has taken the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's honor roll of America's best hospitals.

Of the 17 medical specialties ranked, No. 1 were ear/nose/throat, eyes, gynecology and urology, followed at No. 2 by digestive orders, geriatrics and rheumatology. Cancer, pediatrics and respiratory disorders were ranked at No. 3, with heart and orthopedics at No. 4 , psychiatry at No. 5 and kidney disease, No. 6.

On Friday, July 13, the day the report was released, department directors and senior administrators welcomed employees with pewter key chains saying "Johns Hopkins Medicine: Best of the Best."

"America's Best Hospitals" appears in the magazine's July 23 issue, which hit the stands June 16. The rankings also can be found at http://www.usnews.com.

Event planned to welcome first Urban Health Institute director

Earl Fox, the first director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, will be welcomed at a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, in the Houck lobby and courtyard, JHMI campus. Provost Steven Knapp, host of the event, invites all faculty, staff and students to attend.

Fox, a public health physician, served the last four years as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the second-largest public health agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He joined Hopkins officially on July 1.

The Urban Health Institute was established by university President William R. Brody to help Johns Hopkins better focus its research, teaching and clinical expertise on the medical problems confronting Baltimore's inner city communities, working in close cooperation with the communities themselves and with other partners from government, business and foundations.

Hopkins receives grants from Md. Higher Ed Commission

The Maryland Higher Education Commission on July 12 awarded 11 grants to colleges and universities to train teachers in science and math instruction. The awards, which total more than $700,000, are from the federally funded Eisenhower Professional Development Program, which grants institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations money for teacher training in critical shortage areas.

This year the MHEC placed a priority on proposals that focused on new and provisionally certified teacher candidates in the areas of mathematics and science.

The Johns Hopkins University Space Grant Consortium will receive $82,941 for expansion into western Maryland and the Eastern Shore of its Earth/Space Science Internship Program for Middle and High School Math and Science Teachers. The university will receive $98,456 to collect student data.