Loyola Medicine's thoracic surgery program earns highest national rating

CONTACT:

Allison Peters 
allison.peters@luhs.org
708-216-5500

MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola University Medical Center’s thoracic surgery program again earns the highest possible rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). Loyola has earned a distinguished "better-than-expected", formerly the 3-star rating, from STS for its excellence in patient care and outcomes following lung cancer surgery for the study period of 2022-2025. This rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places Loyola among the elite thoracic surgery programs in the U.S. and Canada. 

Loyola’s cardiothoracic surgery program recognized for quality and better outcomes

The STS General Thoracic Surgery Rating is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs. Loyola's program achieved an overall composite quality score of 99.4% for lung cancer resection, with much shorter median hospital lengths of stay than the national average, and a 0% mortality rate, outperforming the national average of 0.8%. 

Loyola is a top performer in the nation for treatment of complex heart and lung disease 

This recognition places Loyola in the top percentile of thoracic surgery outcomes in the nation. The STS National Database is the gold standard for cardiothoracic surgery registries, with nationally recognized quality performance measures for adult cardiac, general thoracic, congenital heart surgery and mechanical circulatory support.

“At Loyola, we pride ourselves on treating the sickest patients with the highest case mix index in Chicago,” said Jeffery P. Schwartz, MD, chair of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. “It’s an honor to be recognized for our patient care and outcomes.”

“I am very proud of each and every member of the thoracic surgery team who has helped us deliver world-class surgical care to our complex lung cancer patient population year after year,” said Zaid Abdelsattar, MD, MS, FACS, chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery. “This recognition underscores our mission to provide our patients with the safest, most effective thoracic surgery care available.”

The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database includes four components: the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), the General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD), and the mechanical circulatory support database (Intermacs). The GTSD is the largest and most robust clinical thoracic surgical database in the United States and Canada. The STS National Database contains more than 10 million surgical records from 6,000 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists, which encompass more than 95% of adult cardiac and congenital heart surgery performed in the U.S.