When your health — or life — is on the line, there are few better places to go in the region than the five hospitals in and around Chester County that just made the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals in Philadelphia rankings.

“Patients deserve high-quality information on hospitals,” Chief of Health Analysis Ben Harder said in a Philadelphia Business Journal report. “We strive to provide them with the most comprehensive data available so they can make more informed decisions together with their doctor about where to undergo treatment.”

While the gold standard is University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, five more local options stand out.

Nationally ranked (No. 45) in diabetes and endocrinology, Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood sits at No. 4 in the Philly metro, high-performing in seven other specialties (cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology) and the treatment of COPD, heart bypass surgery, heart failure and hip replacement.

Just behind at No. 5 is Bryn Mawr Hospital, high-performing in four specialties (gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, orthopedics, and urology) and the treatment of heart failure.

Then there are three local hospitals tied at No. 8: Chester County Hospital, high-performing in geriatrics and the treatment of heart failure; Paoli Hospital, high-performing in the treatment of COPD and heart failure; and Riddle Hospital in Media, high-performing in the treatment of hip replacement and knee replacement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVjLKc4GMLw

All but Chester County Hospital are part of not-for-profit Main Line Health, which also has health centers at Exton Square and Newtown Square.

“The U.S. News report ranked hospitals on their performance in 16 individual specialties,” the article stated. “Scores were based partly on objective data, including death rates, accounting for patients who represent especially challenging cases; patient safety and other measures of performance that can be assessed using hard data, such as nurse staffing and patient volume. Rankings were also determined by the publication’s last three annual reputational surveys of physicians, who are asked to name hospitals they consider the best in their specialty for difficult cases.

Read more about the hospital rankings in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.