UCSF Medical Center Ranked 8th Best Hospital in the Nation

By Elizabeth Fernandez on July 21, 2015

UCSF Medical Center is one of the nation’s premier hospitals for the 14th consecutive year, ranked as the eighth best hospital in the country in the 2015-2016 Best Hospitals survey from U.S. News & World Report.

It is the only hospital in Northern California ranked in the Top 10 on the Honor Roll, which highlights hospitals that are exceptional in numerous medical specialties. UCSF shone in such areas as cancer, neurology and neurosurgery, and urology

UCSF earned top-tier status in 14 out of 16 adult medical specialties. Additionally, it ranked No. 1 in the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area. U.S. News & World Report evaluated nearly 5,000 hospitals across the country.   

The annual rankings, now in their 26th year, recognize hospitals that excel in treating patients who need an especially high level of care.

“This achievement is very gratifying and validates our daily commitment to providing the best health care possible,” said Mark R. Laret, chief executive ofUCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. “Patients come to UCSF from many places in the country and the world to gain from the expertise of clinical experts at the very top of their fields and to benefit from the latest research and innovative treatments that are a hallmark of our work. It’s an honor to work on behalf of these patients who are treated by physicians, nurses, and the many other practitioners and staff providing a wellspring of compassion and innovation.”

UCSF ranked among the nation’s top 10 hospitals in seven adult specialties: cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, rheumatology and urology.

Additionally, UCSF ranked among the country’s best hospitals for seven other adult specialties: cardiology and heart surgery, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry, and pulmonology. Ophthalmology was also noted for its high performance.

Of the nearly 5,000 hospitals analyzed, less than 3 percent were nationally ranked in even one specialty.

“We are very proud of the work carried out every day at UCSF Medical Center by our health care practitioners. Their dedication and commitment to excellence exemplify UCSF’s core values, and are the frontline of UCSF’s mission of advancing health locally and worldwide through excellence in education, research and patient care,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS.

Track Record of Excellence

In a separate set of pediatric rankings last month, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals ranked among the nation’s top children’s hospitals in nine pediatric specialties, earning its highest marks in diabetes and endocrinology; cancer; neurology and neurosurgery; neonatology and nephrology. It ranked as the best children’s hospital in the Bay Area in five specialties. This year, the rankings for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals were based on both of its locations – San Francisco and Oakland.

UCSF Medical Center is the academic medical center of UC San Francisco. The medical center’s nationally preeminent programs include children’s health, neurological disease and disorders, organ transplantation, women’s health, and cancer. In its long history of providing exemplary medical treatment, UCSF Medical Center has made significant advances in recent years as part of its overall goal of delivering the highest quality, safest care.

U.S News publishes the annual Best Hospitals rankings to help guide patients with a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or extra risk due to age or multiple health conditions. Objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties.

“An Honor Roll hospital has much to be proud of,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News in a statement.

The rankings were published online on July 21 and are available online.

The specialty rankings and data were produced for U.S. News by RTI International, a leading research organization based in North Carolina. U.S. News used the same data, as well as the new Best Hospitals for Common Care ratings, first published in May, to produce the state and metro rankings.

The UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco are ranked among the nation’s top hospitals, providing world-class care and serving as a training ground for health care leaders of the future. The birthplace of biotechnology, UCSF serves as a bioscience magnet for the city, attracting bio/pharma companies and entrepreneurs to one of the most active biotech hubs in the nation. For more information, please visit www.ucsfhealth.org.