Do hospitals make the grade?

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/20130318_National_Hospital_Ratings_Websites.html

This article, by Jordan Rau for the Philadelphia Inquirer, analyzes the hospitals in the Philadelphia area. Specifically, he looks at the hospitals different ratings from different sources as poses the question: Which sources can we trust to ensure the best care possible?

The purpose of this article is to inform readers of the different ratings that hospitals get judged on. The audience is adult readers who want to know if hospitals around this area "make the grade". Lastly, the exigence is the different ratings that hospitals get from different sources and the authors want to analyze which ones we should trust.

Jordan Rau uses many rhetorical devices in his article. The main appeal he uses throughout is logos. He uses facts and statistics to get his point across. For example, he writes "Around Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 21 of 24 hospitals were singled out as exemplary by at least one group. Around Baltimore, 19 of 22 hospitals won an award." This shows the reader the high amount of hospitals that get an award in one area. Logically, it is unlikely that all these hospitals receive exemplary marks and the readers uses facts to get this point across. The author also appeals to the readers ethos by establishing credibility by citing many expert sources. He cites Vice Presidents and actual healthcare rating specialists. By doing so, he established credibility in his writing which in turn allows the reader to better trust what he is writing. It makes his article more believable and thus improves his argument. 

I think the author did achieve his purpose through writing his article. The question he poses is a valid one and he makes a well constructed argument, by appealing to the readers logos and pathos, that convinces them to question what hospital ratings you can trust and which ones you cannot.