PITTSBURGH (October 26, 2009) – The latest edition of The Best Doctors in America, a peer-review-based guide to the nation’s top healthcare professionals, lists 87 physicians from the West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS) as among the nation’s finest.

Best Doctors Inc. compiles the list annually, based on a confidential survey of physicians asking for nominations of doctors that they regard as the best-trained, most experienced and most skilled specialists in the United States, regardless of where they practice.

The Best Doctors survey asks, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty and you could not treat them yourself, to whom would you refer them?” Each doctor surveyed may evaluate physicians currently on the list, or suggest additions for further review.

WPAHS is a physician-led healthcare organization based in Pittsburgh, Pa. Recognized as the healthcare quality and personalized service leader in its market, West Penn Allegheny Health System’s sole purpose and mission is to improve the health of the people in the Western Pennsylvania region.

Offering a comprehensive range of advanced medical and surgical services, the System consists of two tertiary academic medical centers: Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital (WPH) (both located in Pittsburgh, Pa.), and four community hospitals: Allegheny General Hospital – Suburban Campus (AGH-SC) (Bellevue, Pa.), Alle-Kiski Medical Center (AKMC) (Natrona Heights, Pa.), Canonsburg General Hospital (CGH) (Canonsburg, Pa.), and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus (WPH-FR) (Monroeville, Pa.).

Anesthesiology – John Hoyt, MD

Cardiovascular and Thoracic Disease – Robert Biederman, MD; Michael A. Fallert , MD; Tony G. Farah, MD; Jerome E. Granato, MD; Srinivas Murali, MD; David M. Lasorda, DO; Jerome M. Itzkoff, MD; Yvonne B. Maher, MD

Colon and Rectal Surgery – David S. Medich, MD

Critical Care Medicine - John Hoyt, MD; Antonios Zikos, DO

Endocrinology and Metabolism – Wayne A. Evron, MD

Family Medicine – Martin I. Seltman, MD; Fred K. Fioravanti, MD; David G. Hall, MD; Robert D. Beasley, DO

Hand Surgery – Mark E. Baratz, MD; Dean Sotereanos, MD

Internal Medicine (general) – David A. Bertocchi, MD; John T. Cinicola, MD; Douglas F. Clough, MD; Michael S. Cratty, MD; Marc S. Itskowitz, MD; James J. Reilly, MD; Gerald Rossman, MD; Francis J. Cavanaugh Jr., MD; Frank Colangelo, MD

Medical Oncology and Hematology – Gregory S. Long, MD; Sigurdur Petursson, MD; Kathy J. Selvaggi, MD; Charles Srodes, MD

Nephrology – Alejandro R. Gonzalez, MD; David J. Levenson, MD

Neurological Surgery – Eugene Bonaroti, MD; Michael Oh, MD; Peter J. Jannetta, MD; Matthew R. Quigley, MD; Donald Whiting, MD; James Wilberger Jr., MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology – Michael J. Bonidie, MD; Ronald L. Thomas, MD; Elizabeth E. Knepp, MD; Benjamin B. Pettica, MD; John T. Comerci Jr., MD

Ophthalmology – Garry P. Condon, MD; Bernard H. Doft, MD; Louis A. Lobes Jr., MD; Karl Olsen, MD

Orthopaedic Surgery – Stephen F. Conti, MD; Patrick J. DeMeo, MD; Dean Sotereanos, MD; Nicholas G. Sotereanos, MD

Otolaryngology – James E. Blaugrund, MD; Scott E. Celin, MD; Douglas A. Chen, MD; Steven R. Jones, MD; Phillip A. Pollice, MD

Pathology – Jan F. Silverman, MD

Pediatrics – David A. Bertocchi, MD; Gregory M. Hoyson, MD; Paul L. Rowland III, MD, PhD; Douglas P. Stewart, MD: Jeff Ubinger, MD

Pediatric Specialist (Neonatology) – Robert C. Cicco, MD; Giovanni Laneri, MD; Alan Lantzy, MD

Pediatric Specialist (Otolaryngology) – J. Christopher Post, MD

Pediatric Specialist (Psychiatry) - Michael D. Rancurello, MD

Plastic Surgery – Frederick R. Heckler, MD; Michael J. White, MD

Psychiatry – H. Jordan Garber; Kenneth L. Goetz, MD; Patton V. Nickell, MD; Michael D. Rancurello, MD

Pulmonary Medicine – Antonios Zikos, DO

Radiation Oncology – Athanasios Colonias, MD; Stephen M. Karlovits; Russell Fuhrer, MD; David Parda, MD; Mark G. Trombetta, MD

Radiology – Paul M. Kiproff, MD; Robert L. Williams, MD; Melanie Fukui

Surgery – John Raves, MD

Surgical Oncology – David S. Medich, MD; Norman Wolmark, MD

Thoracic Surgery – Daniel Benckart, MD; Robert J. Keenan, MD; George J. Magovern Jr.

Urology – Jeffrey K. Cohen, MD; Ralph J. Miller Jr., MD; Carlos A. Vivas, MD

Vascular Surgery – Dean A. Healy, MD