New rankings show DC region has deep bench of top hospitals

Patients across the D.C and Baltimore area have no shortage of highly rated hospitals close to home, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

A dozen hospitals in the D.C. area earned the magazine’s Best Regional Hospital recognition, while The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore again landed among the nation’s elite medical centers.

Johns Hopkins made U.S. News’ Honor Roll, which recognizes the nation’s top 20 hospitals overall. The Baltimore hospital was nationally ranked in 14 specialties, including No. 1 in obstetrics and gynecology and No. 3 in ophthalmology.

This year’s rankings put greater emphasis on patient outcomes, including survival rates, readmissions and complications, U.S. News senior health data analyst Chelsey Wen told WTOP. The shift helped more smaller hospitals earn recognition.

“This year the number of hospitals with less than 200 beds has doubled,” Wen said.

In the D.C. region, MedStar Washington Hospital Center ranked No. 1, followed by Inova Fairfax Hospital at No. 2 and VHC Health at No. 3. George Washington University Hospital and Inova Alexandria Hospital tied for No. 4. Other hospitals recognized as Best Regional Hospitals were MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Mary Washington Hospital, Inova Loudoun Hospital, Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine-Sibley Memorial Hospital and Reston Hospital Center.

Wen said the rankings reflect the overall strength of healthcare in the region.

“It looks like D.C. also has some really high-resource hospitals that are high-referral centers as well,” she said.

Several area hospitals also earned national recognition in specialty areas.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center was nationally ranked in cardiology, heart and vascular surgery and obstetrics and gynecology.

Inova Fairfax Hospital was nationally ranked in obstetrics and gynecology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital was nationally ranked for cancer care, and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital was nationally ranked in rehabilitation.

New this year are regional specialty rankings in cancer, cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, orthopedics and rehabilitation. U.S. News said the rankings are intended to help patients compare options for complex care closer to home.

For patients looking at the rankings, Wen said national rankings are only part of the picture.

“Even if a hospital isn’t nationally ranked, is not No. 1 or No. 5 in the country, there are still a lot of really great options,” she said.