Leading hospitals for orthopedic surgery in the United States

How National Rankings Evaluate Orthopedic Programs

Multiple independent organizations publish annual assessments of orthopedic hospital performance, each applying distinct but overlapping methodologies. U.S. News and World Report evaluates nearly 4,500 hospitals across 14 specialties, factoring in patient outcomes, nursing care levels, patient-reported experience, and available technology such as computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. 1 Methodology also incorporates data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the American Hospital Association, professional organizations, and medical specialists, creating a multi-dimensional picture of institutional quality rather than a single performance measure.

Newsweek, in partnership with Statista, operates a parallel evaluation covering over 4,500 hospitals across seven care specialties. 2 Its orthopedic rankings integrate a nationwide survey of medical professionals and hospital managers, patient experience data, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and specialty-specific safety and quality indicators sourced from The Leapfrog Group and CMS accreditation records. Healthgrades publishes its own Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award, recognizing superior outcomes in back and neck surgery, spinal fusion, hip fracture treatment, hip replacement, and total knee replacement. 3 Each framework carries different weighting models, so a hospital's standing can vary modestly across lists while still representing genuine clinical distinction.

Leading hospitals for orthopedic surgery in the United States: The Top-Ranked Institutions

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City occupies the foremost position across virtually every major national ranking. HSS earned the No. 1 ranking in orthopedics from U.S. News and World Report for a record-setting 17th consecutive year in the 2026-2027 edition, an uninterrupted streak that spans nearly two decades of evaluation cycles. 4 Founded in 1863 as America's oldest orthopedic hospital, HSS now operates with annual revenue in the $1 billion to $2 billion range and a workforce distributed across 104 countries. 5 Newsweek's 2026 rankings for specialized care also placed HSS at No. 1 in orthopedics, with standout specialties including ACL reconstruction surgery, hip replacement surgery, knee replacement surgery, ankle surgery, shoulder replacement surgery, and nonsurgical orthopedic treatments. 6

The following table presents the top six institutions from Newsweek's America's Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2026 orthopedic rankings:

Institutional Profiles: Research Depth and Surgical Volume

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, holds the No. 2 position in the Newsweek 2026 specialized care rankings and is consistently cited among the top tier in U.S. News assessments. 7 The institution is recognized for a multidisciplinary approach to complex orthopedic conditions, covering ACL reconstruction, ankle surgery, hip and knee replacement, shoulder replacement, and nonsurgical orthopedic treatments. NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital's rise to No. 2 in the U.S. News 2026-2027 rankings reflects a 20-year integration strategy that merged the former Hospital for Joint Diseases with NYU Langone's academic infrastructure in 2006, subsequently scaling data-driven quality initiatives across acquired facilities in Brooklyn and Long Island. 8

Cleveland Clinic has appeared on the U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll for 36 consecutive years, a distinction awarded to only 20 hospitals nationwide, and ranks nationally in 13 of 14 evaluated specialties. 9 Its orthopaedic outcomes database, the Orthopaedic Outcome Measurement and Evaluation (OME) Program, contains PROMs from more than 150,000 patients and over 1 million data points collected across 24 clinical sites in Ohio, Florida, and London, making it one of the most comprehensive such registries in the world. 10 Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is recognized in U.S. News orthopedic rankings with standout procedures in ACL reconstruction, ankle surgery, hip and knee replacement, and shoulder replacement. 11

High-Volume Specialty Centers and Regional Leaders

Beyond the flagship academic centers, several specialty-focused institutions demonstrate concentrated orthopedic volume and outcomes recognition. Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine, California, founded in 2010 through a partnership between Hoag Hospital and orthopedic physicians, describes itself as the largest provider of joint replacement surgery in the Western United States and the leading provider of spine care in Orange County. 12 The institution has appeared on the U.S. News Top 50 Best Orthopedic Hospitals list since 2012 and holds a CMS Patient Experience five-star rating, with Press Ganey scores placing it in the top 5% nationally for likelihood to recommend for eight consecutive years.

Rothman Orthopaedics, headquartered in Philadelphia, achieved national ranking as the No. 1 physician practice for the most Castle Connolly Top Doctors in orthopaedic care, with 92 physicians recognized across multiple subspecialties. 13 The organization operates 32 offices across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Central Florida, performs approximately 60,000 surgical procedures annually, and welcomes an average of 255,000 new patients each year. Healthgrades' 2026 Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award named 100 top hospitals nationally, with Florida leading all states at 26 recognized institutions, followed by California with 18. 14

Pediatric Orthopedic Care and Specialized Sub-Programs

Patients requiring pediatric orthopedic intervention face a separate landscape of specialized centers. Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is ranked No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in California for pediatric orthopedics by U.S. News and World Report, and is also named among America's Best Children's Hospitals for orthopedics by Newsweek. 15 CHLA's orthopedic program employs EOS low-radiation imaging technology, which delivers approximately 45 times less radiation compared to conventional radiographs, and operates the John C. Wilson Jr. Motion and Sports Analysis Laboratory, one of only 17 accredited motion analysis labs in the world. Lerner Children's Pavilion at HSS has independently received Newsweek recognition among America's Best Children's Hospitals for pediatric orthopedics, reflecting the institution's breadth across age groups. 16

Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Orthopedic and Spine Center (MECOS) in West Nyack, New York, represents a newer model of outpatient musculoskeletal care, positioning itself as a freestanding orthopedic facility offering the full range of outpatient orthopedic and spine services for adults and children in a single destination. The institution claims ranking in the top 1% of all U.S. hospitals for orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation according to U.S. News and World Report. 17 Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is also widely noted for expertise in joint replacement, sports medicine, and orthopedic oncology, while Stanford Health Care in California maintains recognition particularly in regenerative medicine and robotic-assisted surgical techniques. 18

Evaluation Criteria and Patient Considerations

Patients navigating orthopedic surgical options should understand that national ranking positions reflect aggregated institutional data rather than guarantees of individual outcomes. U.S. News methodology explicitly increases statistical weight on risk-adjusted patient outcome measures, including survival and complication rates, in the 2026-2027 edition. 19 Regional specialty rankings were also introduced for the first time in this edition across orthopedics, cancer, cardiology, and rehabilitation, enabling patients to identify high-performing institutions closer to home without requiring travel to nationally recognized flagship centers. Factors that U.S. News does not fully capture include surgeon-specific complication rates, individual implant selection practices, rehabilitation program quality, and post-discharge care coordination, all of which substantively influence recovery trajectories.

Eligibility criteria, insurance network participation, and facility access vary considerably across institutions. High-volume academic medical centers often operate long referral queues and may require specialist referrals before scheduling. Patients with complex revision surgeries, rare connective tissue disorders, or pediatric conditions are more likely to benefit from care at an academic medical center with subspecialty depth, while straightforward primary joint replacements may be performed safely at community-level hospitals that carry Healthgrades or Leapfrog recognition. Geographic barriers, insurer network restrictions, and recovery support infrastructure at home are all material constraints that any ranking system is structurally unable to resolve for an individual patient. 20

Sources

1. U.S. News and World Report - Best Hospitals Specialty Rankings Methodology (health.usnews.com)
2. Statista Rankings - America's Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2025 (rankings.statista.com)
3. Becker's Spine Review - The 100 best hospitals for orthopedic surgery: Healthgrades (beckersspine.com)
4. FinancialContent - HSS Extends Its National Leadership with 17th Consecutive No. 1 Ranking in Orthopedics by U.S. News and World Report (financialcontent.com)
5. LinkedIn / HSS Profile Data via Exa.ai (exa.ai)
6. Newsweek Rankings - America's Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2026: Orthopedic Care (rankings.newsweek.com)
7. U.S. News and World Report - Mayo Clinic Orthopedics Patient Stats (health.usnews.com)
8. NYU Langone Health Physician Focus - From Specialty Hospital to Top Orthopedic Program: Two Decades of Integration (physicianfocus.nyulangone.org)
9. Cleveland Clinic Newsroom - Cleveland Clinic One of the Nation's Best Hospitals 2026 (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org)
10. Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute - How a Decade of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures is Shaping the Future of Orthopaedic Surgery (lerner.ccf.org)
11. U.S. News and World Report - Massachusetts General Hospital Orthopedics (health.usnews.com)
12. Hoag Orthopedic Institute - About Us (hoagorthopedicinstitute.com)
13. 24-7 Press Release - Rothman Orthopaedics Named No. 1 Physician Practice Nationally for Castle Connolly Top Doctors in Orthopaedic Care (24-7pressrelease.com)
14. Becker's Spine Review - The 100 best hospitals for orthopedic surgery: Healthgrades state breakdown (beckersspine.com)
15. Children's Hospital Los Angeles - Jackie and Gene Autry Orthopedic Center (chla.org)
16. HSS News - Hospital for Special Surgery Ranked No. 1 in Orthopedics in Newsweek's Best Hospitals for Specialized Care (news.hss.edu)
17. Montefiore Einstein - Comprehensive Orthopedic and Spine Center (montefioreeinstein.org)
18. Rush University Medical Center - Orthopedics (rush.edu)
19. PR Newswire - U.S. News and World Report Announces 2026-2027 Best Hospitals (prnewswire.com)
20. U.S. News and World Report - Best Hospitals Rankings General Methodology (health.usnews.com)