Well USNews rates New York- Presbyterian Hospital which I believe is Columbia-Presbyterian where Clinton is as the 7th best in the country in the category "heart and heart surgery." That is behind only Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Mass General and Brigham and Women's.
Now as an academic I think US News is seriously flawed in rating colleges. I do not know about their rating of hospitals. But it was the first ranking I ran into.
Another question might be why would the Clintons turn to a religious affiliated hospital?
Some points:
1. There is nothing wrong with Columbia-Presbyterian. It is a good, no make that very good, hospital.
2. Why wait till Monday? There may be a host of reasons, among them:
- It does not seem that this is an emergency...if they are waiting until Monday, he is stable;
- Perhaps they are bringing in their own selected surgeon, and if so, I bet they're bringing in their own support staff too. This takes some coordination. Every heart program does not do things "the same". A heart team is a complex organization of individuals and processes, and familiarity with routine is sacrosanct.
- While the media is reporting that he did not, in fact, have a heart attack...maybe he did to some degree. If so, and if there is no ongoing ischemia, allowing the heart some time to "recover" from the insult before the surgery would be beneficial. A CABG in the acute stage of stunned myocardium after an MI is only done in emergent situations.
3. There are more issues too with regard to security, Physician and health-care provider screening, public relations etc...face it, this is a former POTUS were talking about here. There may even be family issues...who knows.
4. And, whoever mentioned that Clinton needs to be watchful to not contract meningitis while in the hospital, I hope they were kidding.
No atheists in the recovery room? Probably because Columbia Presbyterian is no more Presbyterian than the Archbishop of Canterbury is Christian.
I guess if it was Columbia Unitarian Hospital, you could ask the Doctor, "What's wrong with me doc?" and the asnwer would be, "I don't know."