Per the USNews rankings, Columbia is not in the top 50 heart and heart surgery hospitals. On the other hand, given the patient in question, the choice - if it was her's - certainly does not call into question either the intelligence or ambition of the junior Senator from New York.
How do they rank UCSF?
Mystery solved, as reply 26 indicated; "Columbia" in "Doctor" Raoul's parlence is actually Prebyterian - number 7 in the country and tops in NYC. Too bad that "Doctor" Raoul didn't specify this in his original post. And, I wonder how many "doctors" would think that teaching hospitals are inferior?