The basics:

• Hackensack Meridian’s HUMC named to 2025 U.S. News Best Hospitals national Honor Roll
• HUMC ties for No. 1 in New York metro and leads NJ for third year
• 11 New Jersey hospitals named to 2025–26 Best Regional Hospitals list
• Atlantic Health’s Morristown Medical Center and Overlook rank high in multiple specialties

Hackensack Meridian Health is marking its third-straight year leading state rankings for U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-26 Best Hospitals. 

In addition to tying for No. 1 in the local New York region – and the only New Jersey hospital to do so – Hackensack University Medical Center at HMH also marked another first. HUMC holds distinction as the first facility from the Garden State ever included on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll. That list includes the top 20 hospitals from 13 states nationwide. Look for more about HUMC’s and Hackensack Meridian Health’s major recognition from our chat with HMH leaders.

Following HUMC, two Atlantic Health System facilities also held their own at the top of the Garden State rankings. Across the full listing, U.S. News named 11 New Jersey hospitals as the “best,” marking an increase upon those included last year:

Making a list

For its 36th edition of the annual study, the publication said it recognized 504 Best Regional Hospitals across 49 states and 95 metro areas.  

“For most Americans, health care decisions are made close to home. The Best Regional Hospitals rankings underscore the difference high-performing local medical centers make,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News.   

Harder added, “These local hospital rankings, entirely performance-driven, equip individuals and their families, in consultation with their medical providers, to choose the highest quality care available in their own communities.” 

To determine the latest rankings and ratings, U.S. News said it compared more than 4,400 hospitals’ performances across 15 specialties as well as 22 procedures and conditions using objective measures, such as risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and level of nursing care. 

The Specialty rankings and Procedures & Conditions ratings measure patient outcomes based on data from more than 800 million records of patient care, according to U.S. News. Rankings run from 1 to 50 in each specialty. If a facility did not make the top 50, but still ranks among the top 10% of all eligible hospitals, it receives the “High Performing” distinction. According to the publication, fewer than half of evaluated facilities (1,624 total) earned that honor for Procedure & Conditions ratings.

Beyond HUMC, only one other facility placed in the top 50 in any specialties.

Rankings for N.J.’s No. 2, Morristown Medical Center, include:

• Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery – 40
• Diabetes & Endocrinology – 49
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – 38
• Geriatrics – high performing
• Neurology & Neurosurgery – high performing
• Orthopedics – 16
• Pulmonology & Lung Surgery – high performing
• Urology – 32

Meanwhile, the remaining top New Jersey facilities each achieved “High Performing” marks in several Specialties.

Additionally, certain Specialty areas produced “High” performances from nearly all of the state’s top 10, including:

• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
• Colon Cancer Surgery
• Diabetes
• Heart Failure
• Kidney Failure
• Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma
• Pacemaker Implantation

New Jersey hospitals swept the Heart Arrhythmia and Stroke categories, with all  “High Performing.”

Local look

“New Jersey’s health care landscape continues to impress in the 2025-2026 U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings,” Chelsey Wen, senior health data analyst at U.S. News & World Report, said in a statement to NJBIZ.

In addition to Morristown Medical Center’s three “high performing” specialties (above), AHS’ Overlook Medical Center carried the banner across five categories. Additionally, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Jersey Shore University Medical Center each had three “high performing” specialties while Valley Hospital had one.

Notably, Cooper University Health Care-Camden was the only N.J. hospital featured on the list of 2025-2026 U.S. News Best Regional Hospitals for Community Access. An outlier among New Jersey hospitals for its location in the Philadelphia metro, Cooper also made that area’s top 10 (No. 7).

Meanwhile, West Orange-based Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation ranked No. 4 in the U.S. for Rehabilitation. The only other N.J. facility included came in at No. 33: JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute at Hackensack Meridian Health-Edison.

Across the country, only 152 hospitals received the “Best” designation. According to U.S. News, these hospitals excelled at factors such as clinical outcomes, level of nursing care, and best practices for patient safety. Meanwhile, 504 hospitals earned recognition as Best Regional hospitals; which requires earning the highest possible rating across several procedures and conditions.

Get the full 2025-2026 U.S News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings here.