Northwestern Medicine Hospitals Rank Among the Best

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is recognized among the top 10 hospitals in the country and remains No. 1 in Chicago and Illinois

Four Northwestern Medicine hospitals have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report in its 2020-21 Best Hospitals rankings.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital has again been recognized as one of the top hospitals in the country, ranking 10th on the prestigious Best Hospitals Honor Roll, the only hospital in Illinois to receive top-ten honors.

Northwestern Memorial remained ranked first in both the Chicago Metro Region and Illinois for the ninth consecutive year. Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital was ranked eighth in the Chicago Metro region and eighth in Illinois. Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital was ranked ninth in the Chicago Metro region and ninth in Illinois. Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital was ranked 19th in the Chicago Metro region and 23rd in Illinois.

“The U.S. News rankings are a reflection of a shared commitment to excellence and is why Northwestern Medicine is consistently viewed as one of the best health systems in the country,” said Dean M. Harrison, president and chief executive officer of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. “In these unprecedented times, our physicians, nurses and staff have continued to provide world-class, compassionate care while working to advance treatments, clinical research and understanding of this global pandemic.”

Northwestern Memorial Hospital

For the 2020-21 rankings, U.S. News evaluated hospitals across 16 specialties and 10 procedures and conditions. Only 134 hospitals, or about three percent of the nearly 5,000 hospitals evaluated, were nationally ranked in even one specialty.

Northwestern Memorial was nationally ranked in 11 out of 16 specialties and recognized as high performing in all 10 procedures and conditions. Of the 11 nationally ranked specialties, four clinical programs at Northwestern Memorial were ranked among the top 10 hospitals in the country:

Northwestern Memorial Hospital was ranked fifth for Neurology and Neurosurgery, sixth for Geriatrics, eighth for Cancer and 10th for Cardiology and Heart Surgery. In addition, Northwestern Medicine Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital  was ranked 38th in Orthopaedics, 40th in Pulmonology and Lung Surgery, and recognized as high performing in GI & GI Surgery, Geriatrics and Nephrology, as well as in two procedures and conditions.

Central DuPage Hospital was recognized as high performing in Orthopaedics, as well as in all 10 procedures and conditions. Northwestern Medicine McHenry, Huntley, Woodstock Hospitals were recognized as High Performing in four procedures and conditions.

The Best Hospitals methodologies in most areas of care are based largely or entirely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing among other care-related indicators.

AbilityLab and Lurie Children’s Receive High Marks

Meanwhile, the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (previously known as the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) continues to be recognized as the national leader in Rehabilitation, topping the U.S. News list for 30 consecutive years. The AbilityLab is the only hospital of its kind to hold this distinction.

Earlier this summer, U.S. News placed Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago among the top children’s hospitals in the nation, ranking its Urology program seventh in the nation and its Neonatology and Cardiology and Heart Surgery programs eighth in the nation.