DC, Virginia's Best Hospitals: New Rankings Released By U.S. News

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. News & World Report has released its rankings of the best hospitals in America for 2018-19, evaluating more than 4,500 hospitals in the country across 16 specialties and nine procedures and conditions. U.S. News also ranked the best hospitals in America by region.

In Washington, D.C., MedStar Georgetown University Hospital was ranked as the best hospital in the District, while University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville was ranked as the top hospital in Virginia for the third consecutive year.

Five specialties at UVA Medical Center are in the top 50 nationally: Ear, Nose & Throat: 18th; Urology: 30th; Cancer: 40th; Nephrology: 42nd; and Cardiology & Heart Surgery: 44th.

“These national honors showcase the wide range of high-quality, specialized care that our physicians and team members provide to patients from across Virginia and beyond,” said Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace, chief executive officer of UVA Medical Center, in a news release.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was named the country’s best hospital. It was tops on an “honor roll” list of 20 hospitals noted for delivering “exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.” The Minnesota hospital was ranked in 15 specialties and rated as “high performing” in one specialty. U.S. News explains that a “high performing” rating means a hospital was not nationally ranked but was significantly better than average in a specialty.

In all, 158 hospitals in the country ranked nationally in at least one specialty and more than 1,100 hospitals were rated as high performing in at least one common procedure or condition, according to U.S. News. A total of 29 hospitals were rated as “high performing” in all nine procedures and conditions. Hospitals were not ranked numerically for procedures and conditions.

Among Virginia’s 20 best hospitals, the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville is nationally ranked in 12 specialties and rated as high performing in six procedures/conditions. VCU Medical Center in Richmond (No. 2) is nationally ranked in six specialties and rated as high performing in nine specialties and procedures; Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk (No. 3) was ranked in three specialties and rated as high performing in five procedures; Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church (No. 7) is nationally ranked in one specialty. No other Virginia hospitals were nationally ranked in any specialties.

According to the ranking, here are the best hospitals in Virginia:

• University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, (1)
• VCU Medical Center, Richmond, (2)
• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk, (3)
• Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Roanoke, (4)
• Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, (5)
• Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax, (6)
• Mary Washington Hospital, Fredericksburg, (6)
• Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, (8)
• Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, Richmond, (9)
• Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, Lynchburg, (9)
• Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, Virginia Beach, (9)
• Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, (9)
• Sentara Leigh Hospital, Norfolk, (13)
• Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, Midlothian, (14)
• Henrico Doctors' Hospital, Richmond, (14)
• Inova Loudoun Hospital, Leesburg, (14)
• Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, Alexandria, (14)
• Mary Immaculate Hospital, Newport News, (14)
• Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, Williamsburg, (14)
• Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center, Mechanicsville, (20)
• Sentara CarePlex Hospital, Hampton, (20)

MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, is nationally ranked in one adult specialty, and rated as high performing in five procedures/conditions.

The hospitals that made the 2018-19 national honor roll are:

• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (1)
• Cleveland Clinic (2)
• Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore (3)
• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (4)
• University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor (5)
• UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco (6)
• UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (7)
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles (8)
• Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, Calif. (9)
• New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, N.Y. (10)
• Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis (11)
• Mayo Clinic Phoenix (11)
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago (13)
• Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia (14)
• NYU Langone Hospitals, New York (15)
• UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh (15)
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn. (17)
• Mount Sinai Hospital, New York (18)
• Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C. (19)
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston (20)

You can see the full rankings here.

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U.S. News uses two methodologies, one for procedures and conditions ratings and another for specialty rankings. The rankings are produced by U.S. News with research organization, RTI International. U.S. News says its methodologies in most areas of care are based largely or entirely on objective measures like risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing.

(You can read more about the methodology here.)

The specialties included in the rankings are:

• Cancer
• Cardiology and Heart Surgery
• Diabetes and Endocrinology
• Ear, Nose and Throat
• Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
• Geriatrics
• Gynecology
• Nephrology
• Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Pulmonology
• Psychiatry
• Rehabilitation
• Rheumatology
• Urology

The procedures and conditions included in the rankings are:

• COPD
• Heart Bypass Surgery
• Heart Failure
• Hip Replacement
• Knee Replacement
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
• Aortic Valve Surgery
• Colon Cancer Surgery
• Lung Cancer Surgery

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