UC San Diego Health again tops U.S. News top hospitals list

With nine national rankings in specialties from cancer to urology, UC San Diego Health again leads the San Diego market in the latest “Best Hospitals” rankings from U.S. News and World Report. While that is certainly something to celebrate, the university health system missed the publication’s honor roll, a distinction reserved for the 20 organizations nationwide deemed the “best of the best.”

It would have been the third year running that UCSD made that national list, an honor it has referenced in a wide range of promotional material, from a billboard near the Interstates 805/5 merge to banners on university medical buildings. While these messages remain technically correct (they note that these honors were won in the 2024-2025 U.S. News report), they are now slightly out of date.

Asked what might have caused the loss of its honor roll spot, a written statement chose to focus on the positive.

“In 2025, only 152 out of 4,467 hospitals (3.4%) were ranked in at least one specialty,” the statement said. “UC San Diego Health ranked in 9.

“We remain among the nation’s best. We view rankings as just one of many tools patients can use when making health care decisions. Our focus remains on continuous improvement, innovation, and ensuring every patient receives the highest quality care in a safe, quiet and healing environment. We’re proud of our dedicated teams and the trust our community places in us every day.”

UCSD maintained its national rankings in cancer, cardiology and vascular surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, neurology and neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pulmonology and lung surgery and urology, but lost rankings in ear, nose and throat care and orthopedics. A national ranking means that U.S. News, considering a long list of factors, believes that a program is among the 50-best of its kind in the United States.

For a second report in a row, Scripps Health’s hospitals in La Jolla — Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla and Scripps Green Hospital — earned six national rankings in cardiology and vascular surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and orthopedics.

Scripps pointed out in its own statement that it ranked highest in the region for diabetes, orthopedic and heart care. Indeed, Scripps La Jolla hospitals ranked 24th in the nation in cardiovascular specialties, 13th in diabetes and endocrinology and 18th in orthopedics. By comparison, UCSD ranked 27th, 32nd and was unranked but deemed “high performing” in those three categories, respectively. The university’s highest rankings were in obstectrics and gynecology and pulmonology, which are ranked 7th and 8th among all programs nationwide.

Sharp Memorial Hospital in Serra Mesa ranked 39th nationwide in ear, nose and throat care and was deemed “high performing” in six additional specialties.