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Monday, July 19, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

UMHS put on
honor roll list

'U' Health System
ranked by U.S. News
and World Report
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily NewsEditor
The U.S. News and World Report
gave the University Health System
top marks in its latest set of rankings
released last week.
The magazine, which ranks the
country's best hospitals each year,
named the University's Hospitals and
Health Systems the 14th best in the
United States. The honor is the sec-
ond year in a row that the University's
Hospital has held the spot and is the
16th year in a row that the organiza-
tion has been on U.S. News and World
Report's honor roll list - which rep-
resents the top 0.3 percent of health
systems able to most capably confront
the most demanding and complex
medical challenges.
In an interview last Thursday, Ora

Pescovitz, the University's executive
vice president for medical affairs,
praised UMHS employees for their
hard work that has allowed the Uni-
versity to maintain its position on the
leader board.
"We're thrilled with the rankings
because they demonstrate continued
excellence and quality of care in all
measures," Pescovitz said. "I think
they affirm the outstanding quality of
our faculty and staff."
Pescovitz added that being among
U.S. News and World Report's top-
ranked hospitals was a great honor
for the University, but was also good
news for the entire state.
"It's a significant achievement,
because there were thousands of hos-
pitals competing to be on that honor
roll," she said. "It's good news for the
citizens of the state of Michigan to
have an asset and a resource of this
caliber in their backyard."
Hospitals that came out in front of
the University in the rankings includ-
ed Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Mayo
Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.

And while University officials may
have their eyes set on improving their
overall ranking in the future, Pescovitz
made it clear that significant challeng-
es lie ahead for the health system due
to the ongoing health care reform.
"Ultimately, with health care
reform in the future, I think what the
challenges of the future will bring
will be to improve safety and quality,
decrease costs and improve access,"
Pescovitz said.
Many of the hospital's specialties
rose to that challenge this year, with
all 16 specialties evaluated receiving
honors from U.S. News and World
Report, including many that moved
up in the rankings from last year.
Doug Strong, the director and CEO
of the University's Hospitals and
Health Centers, said in a statement
released last week that he was happy
with the newly released rankings.
"We are pleased to be nation-
ally recognized in so many areas as a
result of the hard work of our faculty
and staff," Strong said. "It is our wide-
ranging strength in so many special-
ties that keeps us high on the list year
after year."
Among the top ranked specialties of
the University's Hospitals and Health
Systems were Ear, Nose and Throat,
which ranked ninth among the more
than 4,800 hospitals evaluated, and
Urology and Heart and Heart Surger-
ies, both ranking as the 11th best in
the country.

In a U.S. News and World
Report evaluation of more
than 4,800 hospitals across
the country, the University
of Michigan Hospitals and
Health Centers ranked
among the top 25 hospitals
in each of the 16 specialties
evaluated.
#9 in Ear, Nose & Throat
#11 in Heart & Heart Surgery
#11 in Urology
#12 in Geriatrics
#13 in Cancer
#13 in Gastroenterology
#14 in Pulmonology
#14 in Rheumatology
#17 in Optharmology
#18 in Gynecology
#19 in Diabetes & Endocrinology
#19 in Rehabilitation
#20 in Kidney Disorders
#20 in Psychiatry
#22 in Neurology & Neurosurgery
#24 in Orthopedics
ing sustainability through a col-
laboration with the University's
Multidisciplinary Design Program,
in which engineering students and
professors are designing, building
and testing sustainable energy and
water systemns fur thse center.
Withsth tde idea laid out, Shirley
wrote that le hopes the center can
hp the region and further scientific
stssdy in the area
'lhe goal of the center is to pen
doors for an isolated community
through education and to provide a
nea ntis for scientific research to
advance it the area," he wrote.
As Shirley pitched his idea to co-
founder and LSA senior Julie Bate-
stan last summer, he wrote that they
both vigilantly sought out funding
for the school. Shirlev added that
they have since received a grant from
the Davis Foundation, fellowships
from the Ginsberg Center and other
funding from the College of Engi-
neering, the College of Architecture,
LSA Honors and private donors.
Shirley also wrote that the con-
struction of the school is being
undertaken by Brazilian locals, GIEU
students and himself to avoid any
further bureaucratic delays.
See BRAZIL, Page 3

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U' student builds school,
research station in Brazil

tr at

Sustainability and
conservation to be
focus for students
By CAITLIN HUSTON
Daily Staff Reporter
Inspired by issues of sustainabisity
and education, one University stu-
dent is spending his break transform-
ing the lives of the residents of the
Northern Pantanal region oflirazil.
With construction beginning this
summer, LSA senior Ethan Shirley
is spearheading the creation of the
Pantanal Center for Education and
Research on the Jaguar Ecological
Reserve in lirazil. The center will
feature classes for local children and
adults, as well as a field station where
University researchers and students
will study sustainability and the sur-
rounding environment.

The center also histed a Global
Intercultural Experience for Under-
graduates Programi eld site and
engaging the work of University
engineering students in the Multi-
Disciplinary Design Progras.
In an e-mail interview with the
Michigan Daily, Shirley wrote that he
initially came to the Pantanal region
in 2003 as a tourist and returned sev-
eral times afterward to volunteer at
an ecological resort.
With these visits, Shirley added
that he was struck by the area's need
for a school, as the closest education
center was over 90 miles away in the
town of Pocon6. Another ecologist
had previously tried to start a school
in the region, but Shirley wrote that
the progress was inhibited by the
locals' dislike of the individual.
Shirley also wrote that he felt the
Brazilian government had not initiat-
ed the construction of a school there
due to laziness.

In the e-mail, Shirley wrote that
lie case up with the idea of creating
a school combined with a ield sta-
tion, so that there would not be any'
concerns about the funding of the
project. Under his model, the center
will be funded by the fees research-
ers pay for access to the field station
and other amenities, as well as by the
fees that GIEU students pay to study
there.
At the school, classes will be
offered to children as well as illit-
erate adults, with the curriculum
emphasizing the importance of con-
servation, Sustainability workshops
will also be available for the general
public.
With its focus on sustainability,
the Pantanal Center will also feature
a solar-powered system that will also
be used as a tool for research on the
effectiveness of renewable energy
systens.
In addition, the center is promot-

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