The basics:

• HUMC is the 1st NJ hospital named to U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll
• Ranked top 20 nationally and tied for No. 1 in the NY metro region
• HUMC earned top-50 rankings in 10 specialties, No. 1 in NJ in nine
• 9 HMH hospitals earned high performing designations across NJ

Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center has ranked No. 1 in the state for three years running on the annual U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals feature, as of Tuesday.

In the latest iteration, released July 29, HUMC also broke new ground for a Garden State facility. With its inclusion on the 2025-2026 Honor Roll, Hackensack University Medical Center becomes the first New Jersey hospital ever to rank in the Top 20 national Best Hospitals list. 

It also tied for No. 1 in the New York region. And is the only facility in this state with first-place rankings for both adult and children’s hospital rankings. 

Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett said the distinction belongs to HUMC’s team members. Speaking with NJBIZ about the system’s U.S. News & World Report annual Best Hospitals showing this week, he highlighted the real-life impacts of this kind of honor for patients. 

“The families that we take care of; the deaths that are prevented; the complications that don’t happen; the readmissions that are prevented; the patient experience that’s superior; the community health that’s improved. Those benefits are the most important,” Garrett said.  

Chief Quality Officer Dr. Jose Azar offered further insights into that snapshot. 

“We averted 354 deaths last year, because of the excellence in care that HUMC provides,” Azar told NJBIZ. That figure, he explained, is derived by comparing the facility’s performance with those of comparable size nationwide. Describing it as a sort of barometer on care received, Azar also said HUMC boasts 8% fewer readmissions — that figure, he noted, translates to thousands of patients. 

HMH describes itself as the state’s largest, most comprehensive and integrated health network. That system includes 18 hospitals, over 500 patient care locations, 38,000 team members and 7,000 physicians.  

Last year, HUMC ranked fifth in the New York region. This year, it shares the top spot with: New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, NYU Langone Hospitals and Mount Sinai Hospital.

In 2025, the hospital ranked in 10 specialties, placing it among the top 50 nationwide in each category. In several, it also took the No. 1 spot in the state.  

• Cancer – 37, No. 1 in New Jersey
  (The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center) 
• Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery – 37, No. 1 in New Jersey 
• Diabetes & Endocrinology – 29, No. 1 in New Jersey 
• Ear, Nose & Throat – 50 
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – 47  
• Geriatrics – 32, No. 1 in New Jersey 
• Neurology & Neurosurgery – 33, No. 1 in New Jersey 
• Orthopedics – 20  
• Pulmonology & Lung Surgery – 23, No. 1 in New Jersey  
• Urology – 12, No. 1 in New Jersey 

Working hard

A “journey of continuous improvement,” HMH Chief Operating Officer Mark Sparta described that course as both multifaceted and multiyear. 

Until July 2, Sparta served as president and chief hospital executive at HUMC. Garrett called attention to a focus on quality and technological investments under both Sparta and his successor, Dr. Lisa Tank.

“The team is preoccupied with doing it better each and every time,” Sparta told NJBIZ. That includes, “engagement with our award-winning Magnet nurses. But also, our world-class clinical department chairs to get them to work together as a team has really resulted in the synergy that you see with these types of clinical outcomes.” 

Sparta made a distinction between other accolades and the U.S. News Best Hospitals inclusion.  

“The reason why this is so meaningful is this is really based upon outcomes data. So, it’s not self-reported data; it’s data that’s reported through CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] and Medicare. 

“So, it’s really special and it validates each and everything everyone does each and every day.” 

Recordkeeping

To ensure HUMC is making the kind of progress it aims to, Azar said internal data is monitored daily, weekly and monthly. And so as not to have to wait for Medicare/Medicaid to confirm, HMH “reverse engineers” the information internally to inform that process. 

“And we review this with all our leaders across the whole network, including Hackensack University Medical Center. We share that data with all of our clinicians,” he explained. “So, everybody has access to the same data that U.S. News has – but we have it in a more timely way.” 

That ability to collaborate across the system speaks to the power of a health network, Garrett said. 

Beyond HUMC

In Edison, the Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center ranked as a nationwide Top 50 Rehabilitation Hospital (No. 33) for the seventh consecutive year. Additionally, JFK University Medical Center earned national “high performing” recognition in both Diabetes and Stroke. 

Over in Monmouth County, Jersey Shore University Medical Center has now ranked in the top five in New Jersey for lucky number, 13 years. That’s back to when state rankings began. In the overall New York/New Jersey metro, the hospital ranked No. 19.  

Aside from top 50-ranked HUMC (29) and Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center (40), it was the only New Jersey facility to earn the “high performing” credential for Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery. It also earned the badge for Geriatrics, Pulmonology & Lung Surgery.    

Other accolades include: 

• Ocean University Medical Center: high performing in Urology, as well as in six procedures and conditions
• Riverview Medical Center: high performing in Orthopedics along with two procedures and conditions 

“There’s been a culture of quality, a culture of excellence that’s been established for many, many years; generations, at Hackensack University Medical Center,” Garrett told NJBIZ. “And so we saw progress happening each and every year … But to make history as a top 20 hospital nationwide, and a No. 1 in the region is a very special honor.”

In a statement released July 29 along with news of HMH’s performance, he added the achievement “was forged in the early morning hours by our nurses, earned in the operating room by our surgeons, and built daily by every team member who puts our patients first.

“Their collective passion and relentless pursuit of excellence drive this success. To see their incredible work recognized on a national stage is immensely gratifying. This is a celebration of them, and a promise to our patients that we will never stop reaching higher.”

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

Good for business

For informed consumers, the national excellence distinction could prove attractive to potential patients. Coupled with the regional ranking, Garrett said it could help people realize they don’t need to “go across the [Hudson] river … for this type of care.” 

“And there’s no doubt that this also attracts top clinicians,” he continued. “We’ve seen it.” 

Noting HUMC is Magnet-designated dating back to the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s recognition program’s origins in the 1990s, Garret said that record has helped attract and talented, and stable, nursing workforce. And that can have wide ranging affects.

There’s no doubt that this also attracts top clinicians. We’ve seen it.

He added, “I think even physicians that look for a place to practice want to be sure that the nursing care not only is excellent, but that there is stability within that nursing workforce.” 

Thinking about Hackensack University Medical Center as a major academic center, the recognition can also help attract academics, as well as scientists and researchers. “They would see this as a destination organization, destination institution to come to.”