California's Best Hospitals: Latest U.S. News Rankings For 2020

Ashley Ludwig
·7 min read

LOS ANGELES, CA — U.S. News & World Report has released its latest rankings of the best hospitals in the United States, with all rankings coming from data that was derived before the coronavirus pandemic. So the pandemic’s impact on hospitals nationwide is not shown 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.”

In California, 5 hospitals made U.S. News' Honor Roll of the top 20, and 60 hospitals were on the state’s best hospitals list.

  • UCLA Medical Center - #4 in National Adult Honor Roll, California’s #1 hospital. Nationally ranked in 15 adult specialties and 7 pediatric specialties. High performing in 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center -# 7 in National Adult Honor Roll, California’s #2 hospital. Nationally ranked in 12 adult specialties. High performing in 10 procedures and conditions.

  • UCSF Medical Center -#8 in National Adult Honor Roll, California’s #3 hospital. Nationally ranked in 15 adult specialties and 10 children’s specialties. High performing in 8 procedures and conditions.

  • Stanford Health Care- Stanford Hospital - #13 in National Adult Honor Roll, California’s #4 hospital. Nationally ranked in 12 adult specialties and high performing in 2 adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Keck Medical Center of USC -#18 in National Adult Honor Roll, California’s #5 hospital. Nationally ranked in 11 adult specialties. High performing in 9 procedures and conditions.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was once again ranked as the best hospital in the nation.

U.S. News updated rankings for 16 medical 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.

The hospital rankings for 2020-21 include the Honor Roll, top-ranked hospitals in 16 specialty categories, and the top-ranked hospitals by state and metro region.

Twelve of the specialty rankings — which cover categories such as cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology and nephrology — are determined mostly by data; the other four specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — are determined entirely by expert opinion, U.S. News said.

Honor Roll Hospitals

U.S. News said the hospitals that make the Honor Roll deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.

“The Honor Roll is geared to identifying hospitals that are both exceptionally good at the service they offer and offer a wide breadth of service,” Harder told Patch last year, explaining that by definition, that means hospitals that are highly ranked across many or most specialties.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota took the No.1 spot on the 2020-21 Honor Roll, followed by the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York and the UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles rounded out the top five on the Honor Roll.

The remaining hospitals on the Honor Roll are:

  • 6. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

  • 7. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, San Francisco

  • 8. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco

  • 9. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York, N.Y.

  • 10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago

  • 11. University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor

  • 12. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

  • 13. Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto, California

  • 14. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York

  • 15. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia

  • 16. Mayo Clinic-Phoenix

  • 17. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago

  • 18. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Saint Louis (tie)

  • 18. Keck Medical Center of USC, Los Angeles (tie)

  • 20. Houston Methodist Hospital

Regional Hospital Rankings

In California, the top-20 ranked hospitals are:

  • UCLA Medical Center - California’s #1 hospital. Nationally ranked in 15 adult specialties and 7 pediatric specialties. High performing in 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - California’s #2 hospital. Nationally ranked in 12 adult specialties. High performing in 10 procedures and conditions.

  • UCSF Medical Center - California’s #3 hospital. Nationally ranked in 15 adult specialties and 10 children’s specialties. High performing in 8 procedures and conditions.

  • Stanford Health Care- Stanford Hospital - California’s #4 hospital. Nationally ranked in 12 adult specialties and high performing in 2 adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Keck Medical Center of USC - California’s #5 hospital. Nationally ranked in 11 adult specialties. High performing in 9 procedures and conditions.

  • UC San Diego Health - Jacobs Medical Center - California’s #6 hospital, Nationally ranked in 7 adult specialties, high performing in 3 adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian - California’s #8 hospital. Nationally ranked in 7 adult specialties, high performing in 3 adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions.

  • UC Davis Medical Center. California’s #9 hospital. Nationally ranked in 9 adult specialties and 4 children’s specialties. High performing in 1 adult specialty and 6 procedures and conditions.

  • John Muir Health- Walnut Creek Medical Center - California’s #10 hospital. Nationally ranked in 5 adult specialties. High performing in 5 adult specialties and 6 procedures and conditions.

  • UCI Medical Center - California’s #11 hospital. Nationally ranked in 4 adult specialties and high performing in 5 adult specialties and 5 procedures and conditions.

  • John Muir Health - Concord Medical Center - California’s #12 hospital - tied. High performing in 8 adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions.

  • Torrance Memorial Medical Center - California’s #12 hospital - tied. High performing in 8 adult specialties and 9 procedures and conditions.

  • MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center - California’s #12 hospital - nationally ranked in 1 adult specialty. High performing in 8 adult specialties and 6 procedures and conditions.

  • Mission Hospitals - Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach - California’s #15 hospital. Nationally ranked in 1 adult specialty and high performing in 7 adult specialties and 5 procedures and conditions.

  • Kaiser Permanente Anaheim and Irvine Medical Centers - California’s #16 hospital. Nationally ranked in 2 adult specialties. High performing in 3 adult specialties and 6 procedures and conditions.

  • Sharp Memorial Hospital - California’s #16 hospital - High performing in 5 adult specialties and 9 procedures and conditions.

  • MemorialCare Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center - California’s #18 hospital - tied. High performing in 6 adult specialties and 4 procedures and conditions.

  • Providence Holy Cross Medical Center - California’s #18 hospital - tied. High performing in 7 adult specialties and 3 procedures and conditions.

  • Adventist Health- Glendale - California’s #20 hospital - tied. High performing in 6 adult specialties and 3 procedures and conditions.

  • California Pacific Medical Center - California’s #20 hospital - tied. High performing in 4 adult specialties and 5 procedures and conditions.

  • Eisenhower Medical Center - California’s #20 hospital - tied. High performing in 1 adult specialty and 8 procedures and conditions.

  • Huntington Memorial Hospital - California’s #20 hospital - tied. High performing in 5 adult specialties and 4 procedures and conditions.

  • St. Joseph Hospital - Orange - California’s #20 hospital - tied. High performing in 3 adult specialties and 6 procedures and conditions.

Read the full list of USNews.com hospital rankings across California.

The 16 specialties that hospitals were ranked for 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, psychiatry, pulmonology and lung surgery, rehabilitation, rheumatology and urology.

In 2020, the U.S. News rankings are accompanied by their “Hospital Heroes” project, a series of profiles highlighting more than 60 health care heroes from across the country.

“Our Hospital Heroes series is a tribute to recognizing individuals at urban and rural hospitals in communities across the country who have gone above and beyond during this unparalleled time in history,” Harder said.

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 best hospitals methodology.)

This article originally appeared on the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch