For the first time in 30 years, the Cleveland Clinic has lost its No. 1 national ranking in heart care, according to the 2025-26 U.S. News & World Report hospital rankings.
The prestigious Ohio medical center, long considered the leader in cardiology and heart surgery, fell to third place behind New York University Langone Hospitals and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
However, the Clinic continues to rank highly in nearly every specialty evaluated and secured the No. 2 spot nationally in rheumatology, trailing only Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
U.S. News emphasized that the Clinic’s drop in heart care ranking was not due to worsening outcomes.
In fact, its risk-adjusted survival rate improved slightly this year. The shift, the publication noted, reflected improvements at other facilities.
“Cleveland Clinic is one of the nation’s highest volume cardiac surgical centers, performing more than 5,800 heart surgeries last year,” a Clinic spokeswoman said. “We treat the most critically ill patients requiring the most complex care.”
Regionally, the Clinic continues to dominate. It ranked No. 1 in Ohio overall, with three of its regional hospitals—Hillcrest, Fairview, and Akron General—placing in the state’s top 10. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center ranked second statewide, followed by Christ Hospital in Cincinnati and OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, which tied for third.
U.S. News no longer provides a single national ranking for hospitals, instead naming a top 20 “honor roll” list. Cleveland Clinic again made the honor roll, joining elite institutions such as Massachusetts General, Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins.
Ben Harder, U.S. News’ chief of health analysis, said the rankings aim to help patients make informed choices.
“These performance-driven rankings equip individuals and their families to choose the highest quality care available in their own communities,” he said.
