UCSF Medical Center Ranks Among Nation’s Exceptional Hospitals
'US News & World Report' 2024-2025 lists UCSF Health as tied for No. 1 adult hospital in California, No. 3 nationwide in neurology/neurosurgery and geriatric care.
UCSF Medical Center has again been named as 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. The analysis no longer includes ordinal rankings for the Honor Roll hospitals to reflect the overall high levels of care among these leader institutions. The annual report was released July 16.
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.
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.”
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” in ophthalmology, the best rating in Northern California in that field.
“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 placed 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, 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 2024-2025 Rankings and Recognition
Nationwide, Best Hospitals Honor Roll 2024-2025
#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 & 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 & Throat – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#14 Diabetes & Endocrine Disorders – Best in Northern California
#16 Urology – Best in Northern California
#18 Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#24 Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery – Best in the San Francisco Metro Area
#32 Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ophthalmology – High Performing, Best in Northern California
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 & Myeloma
- Lung cancer surgery
- Pneumonia
- Prostate cancer surgery
- Spinal fusion
- Stroke
About UCSF Health: 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 among the nation’s best hospitals, 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. Visit www.ucsfhealth.org. Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on Twitter.