Mass. General tops U.S. News & World Report honor roll for best hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital has been ranked the nation’s top hospital, moving up from the number two spot last year, according to the 2015-2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals survey, released this morning.

“Topping the list of what is perhaps the most well established and widely recognized hospital report card is a tribute to the collective expertise and dedication of physicians, nurses, therapists, technologists, social workers, scientists, managers, supervisors, support staff, administrative staff, students, volunteers and others who each day give their all to the patients and families who count on us. Ever since US News began rating hospitals in 1990, Mass. General has been honored to be among the top institutions, alongside extraordinary places like Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. We also send a heartfelt salute to the Brigham, which this year ranked 6th, making Boston once again home to two of the nation’s top 10 hospitals,” Peter Slavin, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital president, told Healio.com/Internal Medicine.

The reports Honor Roll represents hospitals that rank among the nation’s top 20 in at least six different specialties, including: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; psychiatry; pulmonology; rehabilitation; rheumatology; and urology.

The 2015-2016 honor roll included:

1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
3. (tie) Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
3. (tie) UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
5. Cleveland Clinic
6. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
7. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, New York
8. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
9. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
10. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
11. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
12. NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
13. UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
14. Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina
15. Stanford Health-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California

Additionally, the report ranked the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as number one in cancer care, the Cleveland Clinic as number one in cardiology and heart surgery and the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York as number one in orthopedics care.

This year’s report, which is its 26^th edition, rated 137 U.S. hospitals across 16 different medical and surgical specialties. According to U.S. News & World Report, these hospitals represent exceptional care in the most challenging and complex care cases, often life or death scenarios for many patients.

“Patients deserve high-quality information on hospitals. We strive to provide them with the most comprehensive data available so they can make more informed decisions together with their doctor about where to undergo treatment,” Ben Harder, U.S. News chief of health analysis, said in a press release. – by Casey Hower

Data reprinted with permission from U.S. News & World Report.