Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Fla. and Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. – both part of the Memorial Healthcare System serving south Broward County – have been recognized in the U.S News & World Report’sBest Hospitals in Southern Florida. In the 2012-13 rankings, Memorial Hospital West ranks 5th in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area, and Memorial Regional Hospital ranks number 12.

This year’s Best Hospitals, the 23rd annual rankings, identifies 732 of the nation’s roughly 4,800 hospitals that are high-performing in one or more medical specialties. To be ranked in its metro area, a hospital had to score in the top 25 percent among its peers in at least one of 16 medical specialties. Memorial Hospital West was recognized in 10 key medical specialties: cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology. Memorial Regional Hospital was recognized as high performing in gynecology.

The hospital rankings, said U.S. News Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow, are like a GPS-type aid to help steer patients to hospitals with strong skills in the procedures and medical conditions that present the biggest challenges. “All of these hospitals are the kinds of medical centers that should be on your list when you need the best care,” said Comarow. “They are where other hospitals send the toughest cases.”

The complete rankings and methodology are available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals. Highlights of the 2012-13 rankings will appear in U.S. News’s annual guidebookBest Hospitals 2013.

Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Regional Hospital are facilities of Memorial Healthcare System, the fifth-largest public healthcare system in the nation. The hospitals’ wide scope of services include Memorial Cancer Institute, Breast Cancer Center, Cardiac and Vascular Institute, Neuroscience Center, Robotic Institute, Family Birthplace, a level II neonatal intensive care unit and a level I Trauma Center. For more information, visit MHS.net.