Mount Sinai Earns Top Ranking for Lung and Esophageal Cancer Surgery Outcomes From the Society of Thoracic Surgeons
The Mount Sinai Health System has earned a prestigious three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its outstanding patient care and surgical outcomes in lung cancer and esophageal cancer surgeries. This rating—representing the highest category for quality—places Mount Sinai among the elite 2.5 percent of thoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada.
The three-star designation, awarded by the STS General Thoracic Surgery Database, reflects exceptional performance in key areas such as mortality, complications, and overall patient outcomes following surgery. Achieving this rating in both lung and esophageal cancer surgery is exceptionally rare and reflects the strength and depth of Mount Sinai’s thoracic surgery program.
“Almost every academic institution submits their data to the STS to measure quality of care,” says Raja M. Flores, MD, Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Mount Sinai Health System and Steven and Ann Ames Professor in Thoracic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Most top institutions receive two stars, which is already excellent. A three-star rating means your outcomes are among the best anywhere—better than 97.5 percent of all other programs. To get that rating in both lung and esophageal cancer surgery is nearly unheard of. It’s a testament to the team and the level of care we provide.”
The STS star rating system is one of the most respected measures of quality in health care. It is based on risk-adjusted national data and is considered a gold standard in measuring surgical performance across the United States and Canada. Only a small percentage of programs receive three stars in a given area, and far fewer achieve it across multiple categories.
“This is not just about great surgeons,” Dr. Flores adds. “It’s about the entire infrastructure—our nurses, anesthesiologists, intensivists, and support teams—all working together to ensure the best outcomes for our patients.”
The STS General Thoracic Surgery Database, part of the broader STS National Database established in 1989, is one of the largest clinical registries in health care; STS captures outcomes data from thousands of thoracic surgery programs across North America and is widely used to drive improvements in quality and transparency.
To learn more about Mount Sinai’s Department of Thoracic Surgery, visit https://www.mountsinai.org/care/thoracic-surgery
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, employing 48,000 people across its hospitals and more than 400 outpatient practices, as well as more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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