St. Luke’s University Health Network is a first-time winner of the prestigious 2021 15 Top Health Systems award, part of the Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals national benchmarks series.

St. Luke’s is one of only two health systems in Pennsylvania to receive this honor.

IBM Watson Health has identified the top health systems in the U.S. through a rigorous, objective evaluation of 324 health systems with multiple hospitals. The annual top health system list, published Monday by Fortune, was established in 2009 to identify top performance benchmarks for fully integrated health systems and to motivate better performance across the health care industry. It recognizes excellence in, among other measures, clinical outcomes, patient experience and operational efficiency through effective system integration.

This year’s ranking also introduces a measure of hospitals’ contributions to community health with a focus on equity. It is based on three components: assessing hospital contributions to community health as a provider of critical services for community health and preventive care; identifying ways that hospitals contribute to community health as a community partner teaming up with local organizations to implement critical programs; and focusing on ways that hospitals promote community health through their practices as anchor institutions supporting local economic and social progress.

“The IBM Watson 15 Top Health System award recognizes St. Luke’s University Health Network’s ability to provide fully integrated services and the highest level of quality care at a lower cost than any hospital network in our region. This recognition is especially significant at this time, considering the vital and fundamental role of health systems in the battle against COVID-19,” St. Luke’s University Health Network President and CEO Rick Anderson said.

In addition to the 15 Top Health Systems recognition, St. Luke’s campuses won:

• St. Luke’s University Hospital, Bethlehem and Allentown campuses, for the seventh time in a row and the ninth time overall in the Major Teaching Hospital category. This year St. Luke’s University was ranked #1 in the country in the major teaching hospital category.

• St. Luke’s Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township for the third time in a row (in the Medium Community Hospital category, one of 20 hospitals in the U.S.).

• St. Luke’s Miners Campus in Schuylkill County for the first time (in the Small Community Hospital category, one of 20 hospitals in the country).