‘Iowans are fortunate to have a widely recognized and nationally respected academic health system right here in our state’
IOWA CITY — For the first time in several years, the University of Iowa’s Health Care operation has made gains in the oft-touted U.S. News & World Report “best hospital” rankings, with the 2024-25 edition released this week.
The UIHC Medical Center in the new rankings placed in the Top 50 nationally in three adult specialties — up from two last year and two in 2022, marking the hospital’s weakest showing in at least a decade after sliding from nine ranked specialties in both 2012 and 2014.
In the 2024-25 rankings, UIHC held steady at No. 6 nationally for ophthalmology; increased from No. 28 last year and No. 31 in 2022 to a new No. 14 in ear, nose, and throat; and regained its nationally-ranked status for cancer care at No. 41.
The last time UIHC ranked in the Top 50 for cancer was in 2021, when it placed No. 47. Its new ranking regains its cancer status from 2020, when it reached No. 41.
UIHC, per the new rankings, maintained its long-held status as the top hospital in Iowa. It also maintained “high-performing” status in five adult specialties: cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery; gastroenterology and GI surgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; and urology.
Cardiology is new this year to UIHC’s “high-performing” list — which credits high-quality specialty providers that don’t make the Top 50 but still are in the top 10 percent.
Numbers of evaluated hospitals vary by specialty — depending on how many are eligible for ranking based on the number of cases they see. Cancer, for example, had 39 high-performing hospitals — in addition to the Top 50 — and 797 that were eligible to be scored but didn’t rank or reach high-performing status.
“This national recognition is a testament to the compassionate, high-quality care our teams provide, as well as UI Health Care’s unique value to the state,” UI Vice President for Medical Affairs and UI Carver College of Medicine Dean Denise Jamieson said in a statement. “Our team members are passionately dedicated to advancing health care across Iowa and beyond through clinical care, research, and training.
“Iowans are fortunate to have a widely recognized and nationally respected academic health system right here in our state, so we can be there for them when they need us most.”
U.S. News this year evaluated data from nearly 5,000 hospitals to rank eligible medical centers in 15 specialties for complex adult care — based on patient outcomes and other measures, like patient satisfaction scores, patient safety, advanced technology, nursing quality, and certification.
In three specialties — psychiatry, rheumatology, and ophthalmology, in which UIHC is ranked — U.S. News took a more subjective measure by asking thousands of board-certified physicians where they refer their sickest patients.
Although an improvement from 2023 and 2022, UIHC’s three ranked specialties this year remains below its rank tally in every year between 2012, when it ranked in nine specialties, and 2021, when it ranked in four.
The UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital — although not newly ranked this week — is ranked in six of 10 specialties.
U.S. News & World Report’s best hospitals honor roll for 2024-25
The Best Hospitals Honor Roll recognizes 20 hospitals with “unusual competence, taking into account the full range of adult inpatient care.”
The honor roll is not ordered. Here is the alphabetical list:
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Cleveland Clinic
- Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina
- Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
- Houston Methodist Hospital
- Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
- Mayo Clinic-Arizona, Phoenix
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
- Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City
- North Shore University Hospital at Northwell Health, Manhasset, New York
- Northwestern Medicine-Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
- NYU Langone Hospitals, New York City
- Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
- Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California
- UC San Diego Health-La Jolla and Hillcrest Hospitals, San Diego
- UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
- UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
