UCSF Medical Center Ranks Among Nation’s 10 Best Hospitals for 2020-21

U.S. News & World Report Lists UCSF in 15 Adult Specialties and Best in West in 4

By Elizabeth Fernandez

Praveen Mummaneni Praveen Mummaneni MD, performs a spine surgery at UCSF Medical Center, which ranked No. 2 in Neurology & Neurosurgery in this year's U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals survey. Photo by Susan Merrell

UCSF Medical Center has been recognized as one of the nation’s finest hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report 2020-2021 Best Hospitals survey, ranking among the top 10 hospitals nationwide for the 22nd year.

In this year’s results, released July 28, UCSF ranked eighth on the national Best Hospitals Honor Roll. A place on the Honor Roll is awarded to the 20 U.S. hospitals that deliver the highest quality of care across a range of specialties, procedures and conditions.

U.S. News Best Hospitals 2020-2021

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

2. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio

3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore

4. New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York

4. UCLA Medical Center. Los Angeles

6. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

7. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

8. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco

9. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York

10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Chicago

Source: 2020-21 U.S. News Best Hospitals survey

It also was ranked among the best in all 15 adult specialties for which it was assessed, including top 10 status nationwide in 10 areas: cancer, diabetes, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, ophthalmology, psychiatry, pulmonology and lung surgery, rheumatology, and urology.

UCSF Medical Center ranked second nationwide in neurology and neurosurgery, and was recognized as Best in the West in four specialties: diabetes, neurology and neurosurgery, rheumatology and urology. It was the top-ranked hospital overall in Northern California, including ranking No. 1 in the San Francisco Metro Area and No. 3 statewide. It also was the highest-ranked hospital in Northern California in 12 specialty areas.

“This recognition reflects the dedication of our staff to providing the best and most compassionate care for our patients,” said Mark R. Laret, chief executive officer and president of UCSF Health, which includes UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. “In these challenging times, amidst a global pandemic, we want every patient to feel confident knowing that these rankings reflect both expertise and safety for any specialty care, primary care and screenings they require.”

The Best Hospitals survey also recognized UCSF Medical Center with the highest possible rating – high performing – in eight of 10 common specialty procedures that were evaluated: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement, lung cancer surgery, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

“These rankings, across such a broad range of expertise, are an indication of our steadfast commitment to advancing health in our community by providing the highest level of care,” said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chancellor of UC San Francisco. “We’re very proud of the physicians, nurses, technicians and staff who compose the UCSF Health team and their consistently excellent work.”

The hospital rankings, which began in 1990, are designed to enable patients and their physicians to make informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions and common elective procedures. The specialty rankings assess hospital performance in highly complex areas of inpatient care and aim to identify medical centers that treat patients whose conditions are the most serious or challenging, due to underlying conditions, procedure difficulty, advanced age or other medical issues.

As in previous years, rankings in 12 of the 16 specialties were determined by an extensive, data-driven analysis that measures performance across the hospitals’ structure, process and patient outcomes. Rankings in ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology are based solely on expert opinion. UCSF Medical Center is not evaluated in rehabilitation.

UCSF Medical Center’s National Rankings

#2
Neurology & Neurosurgery
Best in the West

#3
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Best in the West

#7
Rheumatology
Best in the West

#7
Urology
Best in the West

#8
Geriatrics
Best in Northern California

#8
Nephrology
Best in Northern California

#8
Psychiatry
Best in Northern California

#9
Ophthalmology
Best in Northern California

#9
Pulmonology & Lung Surgery
Best in Northern California

#10
Cancer
Best in Northern California

#14
Ear, Nose & Throat
Best in Northern California

#15
Orthopedics, tie

#17
Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, tie
Best in Northern California

#21
Gynecology

#33
Cardiology & Heart Surgery


More than 4,550 hospitals were evaluated for the 2020-21 rankings, of which 134 were ranked in at least one specialty. This is the 22nd year in which two University of California medical centers – UCSF Health and UCLA Health – have been recognized among the top 10 nationwide.

UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area.