Forsyth Hospital Makes U.S. News 2020 Rankings

FORSYTH COUNTY, GA — U.S. News & World Report has released its latest list of the best hospitals in the United States. The data was derived before the coronavirus pandemic, so the impact on hospitals nationwide is not reflected in the latest rankings.

"The pandemic has altered, perhaps permanently, how patients get care and from whom they get it. Amid the disruption, we are steadfastly committed to providing the public with authoritative data for comparing hospital quality," said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News. "No hospital's clinical team came through this unprecedented health crisis unscathed."

Emory University Hospital in Atlanta was ranked the best hospital in the state, according to U.S. News & World Report, which said it was nationally ranked across eight adult specialties.

Northside Hospital Forsyth also made the list, coming in at No. 8.

The 2020 best hospitals rankings rate providers by specialty, region and overall.

Hospitals were ranked across 16 specialties: 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 and lung surgery; rehabilitation; rheumatology; and urology.

Of those, 12 are dictated mostly by data, while ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology are determined entirely by expert opinion, according to U.S. News.

Georgia Hospital Rankings

These are the top-ranked hospitals in Georgia for 2020–2021, according to U.S. News & World Report:

• 1. Emory University Hospital, Atlanta; nationally ranked in eight adult specialties
• 2. Emory St. Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta; nationally ranked in one adult specialty
• 3. Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, Atlanta
• 4. Northside Hospital, Atlanta; nationally ranked in one adult specialty
• 5. Emory University Hospital Midtown, Atlanta; nationally ranked in one adult specialty
• 6. Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville
• 6. WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Marietta
• 8. Northside Hospital-Forsyth, Cumming
• 9. Gwinnett Medical Center, Lawrenceville
• 9. University Hospital, Augusta
• 11. Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, Athens
• 12. Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayetteville
• 12. St. Joseph's Hospital, Savannah
• 14. Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah
• 14. Navicent Health Medical Center, Macon

In addition, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta was nationally ranked in 10 children's specialties, including No. 7 in the nation for pediatric cancer, and the Shepherd Center in Atlanta was ranked No. 8 in the country for rehabilitation.

Methodology

U.S. News & World Report said the 2020-21 rankings evaluated nearly every community hospital in America.

Only 134 hospitals out of over 4,500 were ranked in one specialty, while 563 hospitals were ranked among the best regional hospitals. A hospital was ranked regionally based on its performance in delivering complex and common care, U.S. News said. The rankings are jointly produced by U.S. News and RTI International, a North Carolina-based research organization.

Read the full U.S. News methodology for its best hospitals list.

Patch editors Tim Moran and Elizabeth Janney contributed to this article.

Related: Best Hospitals In Georgia: 17 Make U.S. News 2020 Rankings