14 Hospitals Ranked Best in U.S.

July 10, 2006 -- U.S. News and World Report has published its 2006 list of America's best hospitals.

Fourteen hospitals made the magazine's honor roll, with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., in the top spot. Here's the list:

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)
2. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)
3. The Cleveland Clinic
4. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston)
5. UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles)
6. New York-Presbyterian Hospital, The University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell (New York City)
7. Duke University Medical Center (Durham, N.C.)
8. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis)
9. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
10. University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle)
11. Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston)
12. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health System (Ann Arbor)
13. Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Stanford, Calif.)
14. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

The list is based on various factors, including: the hospitals' reputation among board-certified physicians; quality-of-care measures such as ratio of nurses to patients; and in-hospital death rates for MedicareMedicare patients after taking into consideration the severity of the patients' illness.

Specialty Rankings

The magazine also ranked hospitals for 16 specialties. Here are the top three hospitals listed for cancercancer, heart and heart surgery, and pediatrics.

Cancer:

1. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York)
2. University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston)
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

Heart and Heart Surgery:

1. The Cleveland Clinic
2. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

Pediatrics:

1. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Children's Hospital Boston
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Md.)

SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report, "Best Hospitals 2006," July 9, 2006, online edition.