These Washington Hospitals Are The State’s Best: U.S. News

WASHINGTON — Several Puget Sound hospitals are among the best-performing in the state, according to new rankings from U.S. News & World Report released Tuesday. The 33rd edition of the list rates the 20 best hospitals in the country and also includes top regional hospitals and hospital rankings based on specialty care.

U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals in 15 specialties and 19 procedures and conditions, adding rankings for ovarian cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery and uterine cancer surgery to its 2022 list.

The 2022-23 rankings also took into account several health equity measures for the first time, noting hospitals which provide more care to low income patients and those which have racial disparities in medical and surgical outcomes.

The rankings are meant to help patients and doctors make health care decisions, according to Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor of U.S. News.

For the 11th year in a row, The University of Washington Medical Center was named the top hospital in the Evergreen State, receiving high marks in specialties including rehabilitation medicine, diabetes and endocrinology, and ear, nose and throat.

“Our U.S. News rankings highlight the outstanding work of UW Medicine’s 39,000-plus faculty, staff, students and trainees in support of our mission to improve the health of the public,” said Dr. Tim Dellit, interim CEO of UW Medicine. “We are dedicated to offering patients high quality care and making important discoveries that lead to new approaches for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human disease.”

Virginia Mason Medical Center was ranked second in the state, and rated particularly high in cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery and geriatrics.

The following Washington hospitals also ranked in the top five:

No. 3: Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital, Spokane
No. 4: Overlake Medical Center, Bellevue
No. 5: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Bellingham

U.S. News made several adjustments in its evaluation of hospital visits in 2020 to normalize its 2022 rankings against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rankings excluded all hospital visits in March 2020 as well as visits in which a patient was diagnosed with COVID-19. Visits to any hospital were excluded if they occurred during a month of 2020 in which the hospital’s COVID-19 rate exceeded the national average.

Learn more about the U.S. News Best Hospitals methodology.

Of the hospitals evaluated, 164 earned top 50 rankings in at least one of the specialty care categories, and nearly 500 were recognized as Best Regional Hospitals, based on their strong performance in multiple areas of care.

In addition to state, regional and specialty rankings, U.S. News also announced the 20 hospitals named to this year’s Honor Roll, which recognizes the top hospitals nationwide that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, claimed the top ranking on the Honor Roll for the seventh consecutive year. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is ranked second, and NYU Langone Hospitals came in third.

Among notable specialties, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is the top-ranked hospital for cancer, the Cleveland Clinic is No. 1 in cardiology and heart surgery and NYU Langone Hospitals is the top hospital in neurology and neurosurgery.

See this year’s Best Hospital Rankings.