MedStar Washington Hospital Center was named the top-ranked hospital in the D.C. region in U.S. News & World Report’s newly released 2026-27 Best Hospitals rankings, while the region’s closest MedStar facility to Southern Maryland also picked up recognition of its own.
The rankings, released Aug. 4 and now in their 37th year, evaluate hospitals on measures including risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and patient experience, and named 505 Best Regional Hospitals across 49 states and Washington, D.C. This year’s edition introduced regional specialty rankings for the first time in four areas — cancer; cardiology, heart and vascular surgery; orthopedics; and rehabilitation — meant to help patients identify strong local hospitals beyond the smaller pool nationally ranked in each specialty. U.S. News also placed significantly greater weight this year on risk-adjusted patient outcome measures and, for the first time, folded Maternity Care performance into how hospitals earn points toward the regional rankings.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center led the pack among the region’s hospitals, earning the No. 1 overall ranking in the D.C. metro area along with a first-place finish in the new Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery regional specialty ranking and a second-place finish in Orthopedics. Nationally, U.S. News ranked the hospital 16th in the country in Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery and tied it for 36th in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital topped the region’s new Cancer specialty ranking and placed 48th nationally in cancer care. The hospital’s cancer program draws on MedStar Health’s partnership with Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, which the health system describes as the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the D.C. region, giving patients access to clinical trials and research not available at every regional hospital.
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, which MedStar describes as the region’s largest acute rehabilitation hospital, was ranked first in the region and 16th nationally for Rehabilitation. In Baltimore and statewide, MedStar Union Memorial Hospital placed second in the Orthopedics specialty in both regions and ranked among the top five hospitals overall in Baltimore and Maryland.
“These recognitions by U.S. News & World Report are a testament to the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and associates, who share their passion for care with our patients every day,” MedStar Health President and CEO Kenneth A. Samet said in a statement. “We appreciate these moments to celebrate their world-class service with our communities and the entire nation.”
For Southern Maryland readers, the more directly relevant result may be MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center’s showing. The Clinton hospital, located on Surratts Road about 11 miles from Washington, earned six High-Performing ratings in this year’s rankings — fewer than MedStar’s larger flagship hospitals but a continuation of a recognition streak the community hospital has built over the past decade. U.S. News currently rates MedStar Southern Maryland as high performing in five adult procedures and conditions, including care for heart attack and heart failure, kidney failure, and blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The hospital serves as the primary acute-care option for much of Prince George’s County and the northern reaches of Southern Maryland, offering a level of specialty and stroke care that would otherwise require patients to travel farther into Washington or Baltimore.
MedStar Southern Maryland has built out several service lines in recent years, including a cancer center operated in partnership with MedStar Georgetown that marked its fourth anniversary in 2024, an advanced heart failure program, and minimally invasive catheterization procedures aimed at improving cardiac care for county residents. The hospital was also named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 Great Community Hospitals list for 2026 earlier this summer, its first appearance on that list, with Becker’s citing strong performance on mortality, readmissions and infection-prevention measures.
Beyond MedStar Washington, MedStar Georgetown, MedStar Union Memorial and MedStar Southern Maryland, several other hospitals in the health system’s network also achieved High-Performing ratings this year across up to 23 common procedures and conditions tracked by U.S. News, including heart attack, knee replacement, cancer surgery and stroke care. Those hospitals include MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, with four High-Performing ratings; MedStar Harbor Hospital, with two; and MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital, with one.
U.S. News says the annual Best Hospitals rankings are intended to help patients and their families make informed, data-driven healthcare decisions in consultation with their own medical providers, rather than to function as a standalone guide to where any individual patient should seek care. Full rankings and methodology details are available on U.S. News’ website.
