Health care facilities that have earned Magnet hospital status now receive extra points in U.S. News and World Report's "Best Hospitals" survey. Administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Magnet hospital status is awarded to facilities that consistently attract and retain nurses who deliver excellent nursing care to patients. (See "Essentials of a Magnetic Work Environment, Part 4" in this issue.) Other criteria for rating the hospitals surveyed include mortality rates, nurse/patient ratios, technologies offered, and availability of community services for patients.

The following 14 facilities made the magazine's 2004 "honor roll," meaning they excel in six or more specialties

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md.

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.

4. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio

5. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

6. (Tie) Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.(Tie) University of California, San Francisco Medical Center

7. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Mo.

8. (Tie) New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, N.Y.(Tie) University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Wash.

9. University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.

10. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass.

11. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

12. Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, Calif.

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