Best Hospitals In Houston Ranked: US News And World Report

HOUSTON, TX — U.S. News and World Report released its annual rankings of the best hospitals in the country for 2017-18, and Houston Methodist Hospital was ranked the best hospital in Texas. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was named the top cancer clinic in the nation.

TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital holds the No. 2 spot as one of the country’s top rehabilitation hospitals for the third consecutive year. Memorial Hermann has been included in the prestigious rankings since the report’s inception in 1989.

"TIRR Memorial Hermann continues to transform lives with innovative, results-driven rehabilitation. We are honored once again to be ranked the No. 2 rehabilitation hospital in the United States," said Carl Josehart, Senior Vice President and CEO, Post-Acute Care Services at Memorial Hermann. "Every patient’s rehabilitation journey is unique; our team of experts is committed to providing the best care possible focused around the individual needs and goals of each of the people we serve, anchored in leading-edge research and innovation."

U.S. News ranked more than 4,500 medical centers in the U.S. in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. The rankings also looked at the best hospitals in every state and 20 hospitals made it to the honor roll, a distinction given to hospitals that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple specialties.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, topped the honor roll for the second-consecutive year. The hospital was ranked across 15 specialties and ranked in the top five for 13 of the specialties. Cleveland Clinic was ranked number two and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore climbed up the rankings one spot this year to number three on the honor roll.

U.S. News ranked 152 hospitals nationally in at least one specialty and 535 hospitals were recognized as best regional hospitals for those seeking care close to home.

In the Bayou City, Houston Methodist topped all local hospitals overall and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center (No. 4 in Texas) was second locally, followed by Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center No. 5 in state), Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital (No. 7 in state), Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital (No. 12 in state) and Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center (No. 12 in state).

UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas was ranked No. 2 in the state followed by Baylor University Medical Center at No. 3. (State rankings)

Houston Methodist was ranked nationally in eight specialties and received High Performing marks in nine procedures/conditions. Baylor St. Luke's was ranked nationally in two specialties and high performance in seven procedures/conditions.

Houston-area hospital rankings

1. Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston
2. Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston
3. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston
4. Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, Houston
5. Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, Houston
6. Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, Houston
7. Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, Webster
8. Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital, Baytown
9. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

The methodology used by U.S. News is based largely on objective measures with more than 70 percent of the rankings relying on such data. The rankings also took into account survey answers from more than 125,000 physicians across the country about reputation. U.S. News also looked at five years of Medicare data and the number of patients treated in hospitals. The methodology was also updated to avoid penalizing patients for treating low-income hospitals or for accepting high-risk cases transferred from other hospitals. For the best regional hospitals, procedures and conditions rankings were emphasized more than specialty rankings.

The hospitals on U.S. News’ honor roll are:

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
2. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
4. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
5. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
6. University of Michigan Hospital and Health Centers, Ann Arbor
7. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
8. New-York Presbyterian Hospital, New York
9. Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California
10. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
11. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
12. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri
13. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
14. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh
15. University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora
16. Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
17. Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina
18. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
19. NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
20. Mayo Clinic Phoenix, Phoenix

The specialties included in the rankings are:

• Cancer
• Cardiology and Heart Surgery
• Diabetes and Endocrinology
• Ear, Nose and Throat
• Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
• Geriatrics
• Gynecology
• Nephrology
• Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Pulmonology
• Psychiatry
• Rehabilitation
• Rheumatology
• Urology

The procedures and conditions included in the rankings are:

• COPD
• Heart Bypass Surgery
• Heart Failure
• Hip Replacement
• Knee Replacement
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
• Aortic Valve Surgery
• Colon Cancer Surgery
• Lung Cancer Surgery

Caption: Former President George H. W. Bush speaks with Heart Surgeon Dr. Gerald Lawrie during a press conference about former first lady Barbara Bush's open heart surgery at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Thursday, March 5, 2009.

Photo by Michael Stravato/Associated Press