CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the 30th consecutive year, the Cleveland Clinic is ranked the No. 1 heart care hospital in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 Best Hospital Rankings announced Tuesday.
The Clinic also was named the No. 1 hospital in Ohio, earning a spot on the U.S. News & World Report’s honor roll, a list of hospitals ranking No. 1 in each state. However, U.S. News, starting this year, no longer is providing a national ranking for hospitals overall.
“Cleveland Clinic’s rich history of cardiovascular care is unparalleled. Congratulations to everyone within the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute,” Clinic CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic said in a statement. “Ranking No. 1 for three decades in a row is a reflection of their sustained commitment to excellence, quality and innovation.”
For heart surgery, the Clinic was followed in the rankings by NYU Langone Hospitals in New York; Mayo Clinic-Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota; Mount Sinai Hospital in New York; and, tied for fifth, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell.
The Clinic system also had three other hospitals on the U.S. News list of top Ohio hospitals. University Hospitals main campus and UH Ahuja also were on the list of top Ohio hospitals.
The Clinic’s main campus ranked among the top 50 hospitals in 13 types of specialty care, more than any other Ohio hospital. The University Hospitals main campus ranked among the top 50 hospitals in three categories of specialty care.
The U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings evaluate nearly 5,000 hospitals in more than 30 medical and surgical services.
A year ago, the Clinic ranked No. 4 overall nationally, and No. 2 each of the two years before that. But the publication announced earlier that it would end the overall rankings after more than three decades, saying it based its decision on feedback from consumers and healthcare professionals.
“While we continue to value the usefulness of the Honor Roll in identifying broad clinical excellence, we also believe that the current format obscures the fact that all of the Honor Roll hospitals have attained the highest standard of care in the nation,” U.S. News said in the announcement.
U.S. News on Tuesday also highlighted nearly 500 Best Regional Hospitals, ranked in states and major metro areas across the United States, which can be found at the link. The top-ranked hospitals in each state and major metropolitan area are listed.
“Choosing the right hospital to match your needs shouldn’t be a guessing game,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News. “The 2024-2025 edition of Best Hospitals provides patients and their families clear, data-driven insights on hospital performance and empowers Americans to choose the facility best suited to their specific health care needs.”
The Best Hospitals Specialty rankings methodology measured patient outcomes using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. News said. This year, the publication incorporated new data on care provided to patients with Medicare Advantage insurance and on care provided to outpatients.
Twelve Ohio hospitals made the U.S. News list of top Ohio hospitals. Among them were six from the Cleveland-Akron area: the Clinic main campus (No. 1), University Hospitals main campus (No. 3), Clinic Hillcrest (No. 4), Clinic Akron (No. 5), Clinic Fairview (No. 7) and UH Ahuja (No. 10).
Other Ohio hospitals ranked were: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (second), Christ Hospital in Cincinnati (tied for fifth), OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital (tied for seventh), Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton (ninth), Kettering Health Main Campus in Kettering (11th) and ProMedica Toledo Hospital (12th).
Cleveland-area hospital rankings for specialties
Besides its top ranking for heart surgery, the Clinic ranked in the top 50 for rheumatology (second), gastroenterology (third), obstetrics and gynecology (fourth), urology (fifth), geriatrics (sixth), pulmonary (ninth), ophthalmology (ninth), cancer care (14th), neuropathy (14th), orthopedics (16th), ear, nose and throat (25th), and diabetes care (32nd).
Clinic Hillcrest, Clinic Akron General, Clinic Fairview and UH Ahuja, while named top Ohio hospitals, did not have any rankings in specialty care.
Last year, the Clinic’s Hillcrest and Fairview were ranked among the top 50 hospitals for specialty care nationally.
Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.