Need a medical procedure in the near future? New rankings for the best hospitals in the D.C. area are out and the list this year will look familiar.
“All of last year’s top five hospitals were again in the top five. Those include Inova Fairfax at No. 1,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News and World Report.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center ranked close behind at No. 2, followed by VHC Health in Arlington, Virginia, in third.
To determine the rankings, editors looked at 22 different surgical procedures and medical conditions that hospitals frequently treat, from knee replacement to stroke and heart attack care.
“Each of these hospitals excelled. They were high performing, which meant that they got very strong patient outcomes, and they had the experience and the clinical resources they needed to take great care of the patients they see,” said Harder.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Heart and Vascular program ranked among the best in the country, coming in at 31st in the nation.
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital also ranked highly in its specialty. “They ranked 30th in the country in rehabilitation,” Harder said. “There are over 1,000 rehab hospitals in the country. So to be on the top 3% is pretty, pretty outstanding.”
Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, came in at No. 4 in the D.C. region and Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital tied for No. 5 in the area.
According to Harder, their rankings this year are based on hard outcomes that patients experienced.
“How many patients survived and how well they did based on the severity of illness that they had when they arrived at the hospital,” said Harder. “That was a methodology change that we made this year to put more emphasis on outcomes, which ultimately are what matter most to patients and generally what matter most to doctors and nurses and those who care for them.”
The data used for the rankings is gathered by Medicare claims. Researchers get a copy of the information related to patient hospitalizations but no name or any other confidential information. The information also lets researchers determine what happened to the patient after the hospitalization.
Children’s National Hospital in D.C. also ranked among one of the best in the U.S. for pediatrics.
Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, made the 2025-2026 Honor Roll for the top hospitals in the U.S.
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