For Immediate Release

4/1/2009

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Ranked as America's Best Eye Hospital Consumers' Checkbook survey published in AARP The Magazine

For the past five years Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has been ranked the No. 1 eye hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report.  Now, another impressive accolade reinforces the Institute’s reputation:  AARP The Magazine, the largest circulation magazine with 34 million readers, published a survey conducted by Consumers' Checkbook which named Bascom Palmer Eye Institute the best eye hospital in the nation.  AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, is a nonprofit, membership organization for people 50 and older. Consumers' Checkbook is an independent, nonprofit research organization.

Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., Bascom Palmer Eye Institute interim chairman and professor of ophthalmology, said, “We were yet again humbled and proud to know that our peers around the nation recognize the tremendous impact our work is having on the prevention of blinding eye disease.  Bascom Palmer has a remarkable history of excellence in clinical care, education and research, and when rankings like these are published it is a direct reflection of the incredible team that we have here.”

The rankings are a result of a national survey of 140,000 doctors.  When asked where they were most likely to send eye patients with extremely difficult cases, the surveyed doctors said Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.

The rankings are published in the May/June 2009 issue of AARP The Magazine and are available online at www.aarpmagazine.org/health/right_hospital_for_you.html.