St. Joseph’s, Home of Barrow, Named a Top Major Teaching Hospital in US
St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, home of Barrow Neurological Institute, is among Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals for 2025. St. Joseph’s earned the No. 5 rank in the 20 Top Major Teaching Hospitals category, maintaining the top spot in Arizona and climbing eight positions nationwide from 2024.
The list, compiled by Premier, Inc. and published on Fortune.com, recognizes institutions that consistently score high in the areas of patient experience, operational efficiencies, and financial health.
To determine the ranking, Premier analyzed Medicare data from nearly 2,600 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals around the United States. The list separates small, medium, and large community hospitals from teaching hospitals and major teaching hospitals.
“This recognition as a top teaching hospital means a lot to us, because we pride ourselves in teaching and our teaching mission,” said Barrow President and CEO Michael T. Lawton, MD. “Residents, medical students, neurosurgeons, and neurologists come from around the world to learn from us at Barrow. They notice the extraordinary efforts we make to educate and inspire trainees, and how those efforts ultimately lead to better patient care. Our goal is to produce the next generation of leaders through unique teaching techniques, enhancing their ability to care for patients not just at Barrow but wherever their careers may take them.”
As a health care improvement company, Premier launched 100 Top Hospitals with the goal of inspiring health system leaders to pursue higher performance and deliver added value to patients and communities. As part of its evaluation process, the company provides all hospitals assessed with a complimentary report on their performance and how they compare to peer hospitals and the current top hospitals.
If this year’s 100 Top Hospitals were serving all of the Medicare patients in the United States, over 331,000 additional lives would be saved in a hospital setting, over 611,000 patients would be complication-free, and 13,000 fewer patients would be discharged and readmitted within 30 days, according to Fortune. This would account for an estimated $15.1 billion saved in health care costs.
Like Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center is nationally recognized for its highly specialized care, competitive medical education, and cutting-edge research. The campus has been home to Barrow since the Institute opened in 1962.
“For over 100 years, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center has delivered advanced, compassionate, and patient-centered care,” said St. Joseph’s President Douglas Ross, MD. “This ranking as a Top Major Teaching Hospital confirms that a patient-centric approach and an innovative spirit can deliver excellence in the care we provide to our patients and the communities we serve.”
In partnership with St. Joseph’s, Barrow has become one of the busiest centers for neurology and neurosurgery in the country. Each year, the Institute treats more than 73,000 patients and performs more than 6,000 surgeries of the brain, spine, and head and neck.
As part of this major teaching hospital, Barrow is proud to offer highly sought-after residency programs in neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, rehabilitation psychology, and neurologic physical therapy. The Neurosurgery Residency Program at Barrow is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for reputation by Doximity. Barrow also offers clinical fellowships across numerous subspecialties in neurosurgery and neurology, as well as a fellowship program in neuroradiology.