What is NYU Langone, the hospital that just topped the Cleveland Clinic in the U.S. News rankings?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — While the Cleveland Clinic slipped from the second to the fourth nationally in the latest U.S. News and World Report Best Hospital rankings, NYU Langone Hospitals rocketed from eighth to third.

So what is NYU Langone, and why is it in the top five in the U.S. News Best Hospital Honor Roll released Tuesday along with better-known hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Johns Hopkins?

NYU Langone is one of the country’s top academic medical centers. It is located in Manhattan, with additional facilities throughout the New York City area as well as hospitals in Manhattan, Long Island, and Brooklyn.

The hospital system, affiliated with New York University, serves about 1.8 million patients annually and has more than 45,000 employees, a spokesperson said. This compares to 72,500 Cleveland Clinic caregivers worldwide, though mostly in Ohio. The Clinic treated 2.9 million patients in 2021.

Langone has risen steadily up the U.S. News Honor Roll rankings over the past few years. The overall rankings are the result of U.S. News’ assessment of outcomes, care and patient equity in multiple areas.

The Honor Roll was topped again this year by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and Langone Hospitals. The Clinic and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore rounded out the top five rankings.

This year, U.S. News named Langone the top hospital in New York State.

While the U.S. News rankings are widely recognized, no single ranking accurately reflects the quality of care provided by any one institution, Dr. Robert Grossman, chief executive officer of NYU Langone and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a statement.

“It is only when one looks at the constellation of the most respected rating systems collectively that you can really assess how each institution performs,” Grossman said.

Langone was recognized this year as a top five hospital nationally in six separate specialties, including topping all hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery after ranking fifth for that area in 2021.

The hospital was also ranked third for both geriatrics and neurology/neurosurgery, fourth for both orthopedics and pulmonology/lung surgery, and fifth for both cardiology/heart surgery and gastroenterology/GI surgery.

Langone was named a top 25 hospital in 14 separate specialties both years.

The hospital system’s rankings improved in nine of these 14 areas from the year before, stayed the same in five and dropped in one, as the urology ranking slipped from ninth to 10th.

How NYU Langone ranks, by specialty

Not seeing the chart on how Langone ranked by specialty the last two years? Some mobile users may need to use this link instead.

Langone Health also ranked high the last two years

Langone was ranked No. 8 overall a year ago and No. 9 two years ago.

For the past eight years, the hospital system has also received top rankings for overall patient safety and quality of care from Vizient Inc., a leading health care performance improvement company.

In 2021, NYU Langone ambulatory care practices ranked No. 1 in Vizient’s Ambulatory Care Quality and Accountability Ranking for demonstrating excellence in delivering high-quality outpatient care.

The health system has received the Gold Seal of Approval by the Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America.

Previously: Cleveland Clinic is No. 4 nationally in new U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals ratings; UH No. 3 in Ohio