Best Hospitals for 2026: Healthgrades Announces Winners

• Healthgrades has recently released its annual list of the top 250 hospitals in the United States.
• To compile their rankings, Healthgrades evaluated the clinical performance of 4,500 hospitals.
• The research team graded each hospital based on more than 30 common conditions and procedures.

When it comes time to seek medical care, knowing where to turn can feel daunting, especially when differences in quality aren’t always easy to see.

On January 27, Healthgrades, a leading website for finding a doctor, announced the winners of its 2026 Best Hospitals Awards, recognizing the nation’s top-performing hospitals based on clinical outcomes.

The annual awards highlight the top 1%, 2%, and 5% of hospitals nationwide with the following distinctions:

• America’s 50 Best Hospitals
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals
• America’s 250 Best Hospitals

To determine these rankings, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance data from more than 4,500 hospitals across more than 30 common procedures and conditions, using clinically validated methodology focused on patient outcomes.

“Patients are taking a more active role in their care than ever before, but real empowerment comes from having choices and access to information they can trust,” Alana Biggers, MD, MPH, FACP, and a medical advisor at Healthgrades, noted in a press release.

“This year’s America’s Best Hospitals list gives patients a clearer picture of where high quality care is delivered most consistently, helping them understand their options and feel confident in choosing the care that’s right for them.”

Consumers are beginning to take a more active role in their care. Healthgrades notes that nearly two-thirds of people say they are more likely to choose a hospital with a quality award than one without one. This highlights the importance of having access to objective quality data.

A lack of access to quality care still poses a major challenge to informed healthcare decision making for around half of the United States population. Recent research shows that around 46% of people in the United States live more than 25 miles from one of America’s 250 Best Hospitals. It also revealed major gaps in access that span major metropolitan areas and entire states.

Healthgrades’ annual analysis also shows that if every hospital in the United States performed similarly to America’s 250 Best Hospitals, 211,370 lives could be saved.

The best 50 hospitals were from 19 different states. California was the home of nine of these medical facilities, while Florida had seven. Pennsylvania and Ohio had five each.

Below is the list of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for 2026. You can find the full list of America’s 250 Best Hospitals on the Healthgrades website.

Mayo Clinic Hospital, Phoenix

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, West Hollywood

Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, Burlingame

Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Northridge

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills

Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, Encinitas

Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego, San Diego

Stanford Hospital, Stanford

Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Roseville

HCA HealthONE SKY Ridge, Lone Tree

Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk

AdventHealth Orlando, Orlando

Cape Coral Hospital, Cape Coral

Gulf Coast Medical Center, Fort Myers

HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, Miami

Lee Memorial Hospital, Fort Myers

Mayo Clinic in Florida, Jacksonville

Naples Comprehensive Health, Naples

Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, Atlanta

Emory University Hospital Midtown, Atlanta

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore

Ascension Providence Hospital — Southfield Campus, Southfield

Mayo Clinic Health System Mantako, Mantako

Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Mary’s Campus, Rochester

Morristown Medical Center, Morristown

Overlook Medical Center, Summit

NYU Langone Hospitals, New York

Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook

Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie

Mission Hospital, Asheville

Mercy Health — Fairfield Hospital, Fairfield

Mercy Health-St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, Youngstown

Mercy Health-West Hospital, Cincinnati

Summa Health System-Akron Campus, Akron

The Jewish Hospital-Mercy Health, Cincinnati

Chester County Hospital, West Chester

Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster

Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood

Milton S Hershey Medical Center, Hershey

Reading Hospital, Reading

Riddle Memorial Hospital, Media

St. Luke’s Hospital- Bethlehem Campus, Bethlehem

Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston

Inova Loudoun Hospital, Leesburg

Evergreenhealth Medical Center-Kirkland, Kirkland

Cabell Huntington Hospital, Huntington

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