Mayo, Cleveland Clinics Top Latest US News Hospital Rankings

For the sixth consecutive year, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, claimed the number one spot in the annual honor roll of best hospitals published today by US News & World Report.

This year's expanded report debuts new ratings for seven "important procedures and conditions to help patients, in consultation with their doctors, narrow down their choice of hospital based on the specific type of care they need," Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis, said in a news release.

With new ratings for myocardial infarction, stroke, pneumonia, diabetes, kidney failure, hip fracture, and back surgery (spinal fusion), the report now ranks 17 procedures and conditions.

Also new to this year's report, which marks the 32nd edition, is a look at racial disparities in healthcare and the inclusion of health equity measures alongside the hospital rankings.

The new measures examine whether the patients each hospital has treated reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the surrounding community, among other aspects of health equity.

"At roughly four out of five hospitals, we found that the community's minority residents were underrepresented among patients receiving services such as joint replacement, cancer surgery and common heart procedures," Harder said.

"Against this backdrop, however, we found important exceptions ― hospitals that provide care to a disproportionate share of their community's minority residents. These metrics are just a beginning; we aim to expand on our measurement of health equity in the future," Harder added.

Mayo and Cleveland Clinic Remain Tops

Following the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio, once again takes the number two spot in the magazine's latest annual honor roll of best hospitals, which highlights hospitals that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.

UCLA Medical Center, in Los Angeles, California, holds the number three spot this year. Last year, UCLA Medical Center and New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York City, sat in a tie at number four.

This year, Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland, which held the number three spot last year, drops to number four, while Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston takes the number five spot, up from number six last year.

Rounding out the top 10 (in order) are Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York City; NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City; UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco; and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.

2021–2022 Best Hospitals Honor Rol

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

2. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio

3. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California

4. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland

5. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

6. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, San Francisco, California

7. New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York City

8. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City

9. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco

10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois

11. University of Michigan Hospitals–Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan

12. Stanford Health Care–Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto, California

13. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania–Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

14. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston

15. Mayo Clinic–Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona

16. Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas

17. (tie) Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri

17. (tie) Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Rush University Medical Center, Chicago

19. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago

20. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee

For the 2021–2022 rankings and ratings, the magazine compared more than 4750 hospitals nationwide in 15 specialties and 17 procedures and conditions.

At least 2039 hospitals received a high performance rating in at least one of the services rated; 11 hospitals received high performance in all 17. A total of 175 hospitals were nationally ranked in at least one specialty

For specialty rankings, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center continues to hold the number one spot in cancer care, the Hospital for Special Surgery continues to be number one in orthopedics, and the Cleveland Clinic continues to be number one in cardiology and heart surgery.

Top Five for Cancer

1. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

2. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City

3. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

4. Dana-Farber/Brigham & Women's Cancer Center, Boston

5. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland

Top Five for Cardiology and Heart Surgery

1. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

3. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

4. New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York City

5. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City

Top Five for Orthopedics

1. Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester

3. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

4. NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, New York

5. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles

Pandemic Pondering

The magazine notes that data for the 2021–2022 Best Hospitals rankings and ratings were not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which began after the end of the data collection period.

The methodologies used in determining the rankings are based largely on objective measures, such as risk-adjusted survival, discharge-to-home rates, volume, and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators.

Last year, the magazine debuted the "Hospital Heroes" project to recognize and profile healthcare heroes from across the country. The project continues this year with One Pandemic Question — a series that looks back on the past 18 months to hear from healthcare leaders on their work, lessons learned, and the path forward.

Stories this year include the following:

Greg Vanichkachorn, MD, MPH, medical director of the COVID-19 Rehabilitation Program, Mayo Clinic, weighs in on helping COVID long-haulers;
Mike Brown, a barber in Hyattsville, Maryland, talks about working to combat vaccine hesitancy as part of the "Shots at the Shop" campaign;
Eric Topol, MD, Medscape editor-in-chief, on how to respond to variant superspreaders;
Mei Tsai, PharmD, at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, talks about providing vaccinations to homebound patients; and
Lorna Breen, MD, an emergency medicine physician who died by suicide after working through the pandemic in New York.

The full report is available online.

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