Austen Riggs Center Ranked as a Top Psychiatric Hospital

STOCKBRIDGE, MA: Once again, the Austen Riggs Center has ranked as one of the top psychiatric hospitals in the 18th annual “America’s Best Hospitals” report released today by U.S. News & World Report. This is the seventh time that Riggs has been ranked among the best psychiatric hospitals in the country.

Hospitals are ranked in 16 specialties, from cancer and heart disease to pediatrics and urology. Unlike other hospital rankings, "America's Best Hospitals" looks at entire specialties rather than at specific procedures. It’s an elite group; only 173 U.S. hospitals out of 5,462 scored high enough this year to rank.

Psychiatric facilities were ranked by reputation among physicians. In identifying the best psychiatric hospitals, a sampling of board-certified psychiatrists was randomly surveyed and asked to list the five hospitals they consider best in their specialty for difficult cases.

“The continuing recognition as a ‘Best Hospital’ points to Riggs as a significant force on the national landscape of care for the seriously mentally ill and supports the validity of our intensive, psychodynamic approach for otherwise treatment-resistant individuals.” says Medical Director/CEO Edward R. Shapiro, MD.

For more information about the Austen Riggs Center, call (413) 298-5511, or go to www.austenriggs.org.

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A small, not-for-profit psychiatric treatment center founded in 1919, the Austen Riggs Center, located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is internationally known for its respectful work with patients whose serious emotional disturbances have not responded to treatment efforts. Riggs is the only psychiatric hospital of its kind in the country that provides quality care based on intensive, individual psychodynamic psychotherapy in a completely open therapeutic community setting. Integral to the Center’s mission, Riggs’ Erikson Institute for Education and Research is committed to furthering the study of psychodynamic thought and treatment.