UCSF Ranks Among the Nation's Best

No. 1 Adult Hospital in California (tied) and No. 3 Nationwide in Neurology/Neurosurgery and Geriatric Care, According to U.S. News & World Report

UCSF Medical Center has again been named one of the country’s top hospitals for patient care and safety, appearing on the national Honor Roll in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings for 2024-2025.

The Honor Roll distinction was earned by only 20 medical centers nationwide and five in California. To reflect the overall high levels of care among these leader institutions, the analysis no longer includes ordinal rankings for the Honor Roll hospitals. The annual report was released July 16, 2024.

UCSF Medical Center tied for best hospital in California overall and ranked best in California and the West in neurology/neurosurgery, geriatric care and rheumatology. It was the highest-ranking hospital in Northern California for cancer care. This is the 28th year that UCSF has been among the leaders in neurology and neurosurgery, which are specialties within the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

Overall, UCSF Medical Center was ranked among the leading hospitals in 13 specialty areas, seven of which were among the top 10 programs nationwide: cancer, geriatrics, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, psychiatry, pulmonology and rheumatology. It was also the top-ranked hospital in Northern California in diabetes, psychiatry, pulmonology and urology. Additional high rankings include ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, cardiology, and obstetrics and gynecology, with a “high-performing” rating in ophthalmology.

“This year’s rankings reflect UCSF Health’s relentless commitment to making world-class specialty care accessible and driving innovation that advances the health of our whole community,” said Suresh Gunasekaran, president and chief executive officer of UCSF Health. “Our success is directly attributable to the excellence of the entire UCSF health team, their focus on improving quality, safety, access and equity, and their tireless dedication to our patients.”

The Best Hospitals rankings, published annually since 1990, enable consumers and their physicians to determine which hospitals provide the best care for the most serious or complicated medical conditions and procedures.

Last year, U.S. News & World Report introduced new patient outcome measures that place more weight on objective quality measures. This year, the publication continued to refine their performance methodology to include Medicare Advantage data – significantly expanding the volume of data – as well as other factors, including interhospital transfers, observation stays, and outpatient outcomes for some specialties.

Of the nearly 5,000 hospitals that U.S. News evaluated this year, UCSF Medical Center is among only 11% that earned any numerical ranking in a state or medical specialty. UCSF Medical Center earned 13 such rankings.

“These rankings are a validation of our long-standing work to advance the science of medicine and bring those innovations as quickly as possible to our patients,” said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chancellor of UC San Francisco. “They reflect the hard work of our clinical teams and collaborations across our clinical, research and education enterprises.”

Along with the Best Hospitals rankings, UCSF Medical Center has repeatedly been cited among the country’s top leaders in quality and safety in health care's most highly regarded rating systems. These include “A” grades, the highest rating for safety, from The Leapfrog Group for UCSF Health hospitals at Mission Bay, Parnassus Heights and Mount Zion. UCSF Medical Center has also received a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for quality of care as well as the gold standard “magnet recognition” in nursing excellence for more than a decade, and is listed among top academic medical centers in quality and safety by the health care performance improvement company Vizient, Inc.

UCSF Medical Center ranked as “high-performing” – the highest category – in 17 adult procedures and conditions, including diabetes, heart attacks, prostate cancer surgery, colon cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery and knee replacement.

In California, three UC Health medical centers – UCSF Medical Center, UCLA Medical Center and UC San Diego Medical Center – were recognized among the state’s most distinguished hospitals.

UCSF's Rankings and Recognition from U.S. News, 2024-2025

Best Hospitals Rankings

Nationwide, Best Hospitals Honor Roll
#1 (tied) in California
#1 San Francisco Metro Area

Top 10 Nationwide (national rank shown)

#3 Neurology and Neurosurgery – Best in the West
#3 Geriatric Care – Best in the West
#4 Pulmonology and Lung Surgery – Best in Northern California
#7 Cancer – Best in Northern California
#7 Psychiatry – Best in Northern California
#7 Rheumatology – Best in the West
#8 Orthopedics – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area

Among the Nation's Best (national rank shown)

#12 Ear, Nose and Throat – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#14 Diabetes and Endocrine Disorders – Best in Northern California
#16 Urology – Best in Northern California
#18 Gastroenterology and GI Surgery – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#24 Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#32 Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ophthalmology – High Performing

High-Performing Procedures and Conditions

Acute kidney failure
COPD
Colon cancer surgery
Diabetes
Gynecological cancer surgery
Heart attack
Heart bypass surgery
Heart failure
Hip fracture
Hip replacement
Knee replacement
Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma
Lung cancer surgery
Pneumonia
Prostate cancer surgery
Spinal fusion
Stroke