For the ninth consecutive year, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is the nation’s No. 1 ophthalmology program in U.S.News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals rankings.

“This recognition reflects the unwavering commitment and expertise of the team of 1,200 talented ophthalmologists, vision researchers, nurses, ophthalmic technicians, and support staff who consistently demonstrate their top priority – ensuring that every patient receives the latest, best, and most compassionate vision care,” said Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior vice president for medical affairs, dean of the Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of UHealth-University of Miami Health System. “It is the well-being of their patients that motivates the Bascom Palmer staff to reach ever higher and continuously break new ground in vision research, education, and surgical innovation.”

“For 50 years, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has provided the platform on which key issues and challenges confronting ophthalmology have been debated, where new technology has been unveiled, and where ophthalmologists have come together to learn, discuss, and teach the best care for patients,” added Eduardo C. Alfonso, professor and chair of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. “We are honored that ophthalmologists around the country continue to recognize Bascom Palmer for its excellence and we look forward to upholding these standards for the next 50 years as well.”

Eight other specialties of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital were singled out as high performing. They are cancer, gastroenterology, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, psychiatry and urology.

University of Miami Hospital likewise received regional recognition as one of the best hospitals in South Florida and was singled out as high performing in cancer, neurology and neurosurgery, and orthopedics.

Now in its 23rd year, U.S. News’ Best Hospital’s 2012-13 edition is intended to help steer patients to hospitals with strong skills in the procedures and medical conditions that present the toughest challenges. This year, with a greater emphasis on measurable clinical yardsticks—including patient volume, nurse staffing, advanced technologies, and patient outcomes—than in previous years, fewer than 150 of the nation’s nearly 5,000 hospitals ranked in at least one of 16 specialties.

The latest recognition, which follows Bascom Palmer’s 50th anniversary, comes just six weeks after Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami at Jackson was rated among the nation’s top children’s hospitals in U.S. News’ 2012-13 Best Children’s Hospitals edition. Holtz ranked in eight specialties: 26th in nephrology, 36th in diabetes and endocrinology, 39th in gastroenterology, pulmonology and urology, 41st in neonatology, 45th in cardiology and heart surgery, and 47th in orthopedics.

Founded in 1962, Bascom Palmer is the largest ophthalmic care, research, and educational facility in the southeastern United States, and its staff treats more than 250,000 patients and performs more 18,000 surgeries annually. At the forefront of innovation in ophthalmology for the past 50 years, the institute’s doctors and scientists are recognized as international leaders in their fields of expertise in every ophthalmology subspecialty, including macular, retinal and optic nerve diseases, cataracts, eye infections, eye cancers, and eye diseases in children.

U.S. News publishes the rankings in collaboration with RTI International, a research organization based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Highlights of the 2012-13 rankings will appear in the Best Hospitals 2013 guidebook, to go on sale in August.