Best hospitals for cardiac surgery treatment: A data-focused guide to U.S. programs

Best hospitals for cardiac surgery treatment are assessed through several different lenses, including national rankings, procedure-specific outcomes, surgical volume, specialist expertise, and the ability to manage complex cases. Recent U.S. data place NYU Langone Hospitals, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Cleveland Clinic among the leading programs for cardiology, heart surgery, and vascular surgery. 1

How current hospital rankings are constructed

The 2026 U.S. News specialty ranking reviewed nearly 4,500 facilities, with 178 earning at least one top-50 national ranking. For cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery, the methodology placed substantially more emphasis on quality outcomes than in earlier editions. Forty-one risk-adjusted patient outcomes represented 80% of the score, compared with 45% in previous years. 1

The specialty assessment covered both surgical and catheter-based care for conditions such as coronary artery disease, valve disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, and vascular disorders. Becker's Cardiology reported that 665 hospitals initially entered the review, while 488 cleared eligibility requirements involving minimum procedure volumes and a transfer-pattern check designed to identify major referral centers. 2

Leading hospitals in the latest national list

NYU Langone Hospitals in New York City ranked first with a score of 97.5, followed by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell at 89.9. Mayo Clinic in Rochester scored 83.3, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles scored 83.1, and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York scored 82.6. The list shows a notable gap between the first-ranked program and several other nationally prominent institutions. 2

Massachusetts General Hospital ranked sixth with 81.5, Northwestern Medicine-Northwestern Memorial Hospital ranked seventh with 80.9, and Cleveland Clinic ranked eighth with 80.3. Stanford Health Care also appeared among the leading hospitals. These positions describe performance within a specific national methodology, rather than a universal judgment that one hospital is suitable for every operation or patient. 1

Why procedure-specific results matter

Hospital-wide specialty rankings can be useful for identifying major referral centers, but they do not replace procedure-specific evidence. The 2026 assessment incorporated eight cohorts: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, heart arrhythmia, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart attack, heart failure, pacemaker implantation, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Survival accounted for 45% of the score, with additional measures covering discharge to home, readmission prevention, and patient experience. 2

Cleveland Clinic publishes more detailed adult cardiac surgery statistics through its Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. For 2025, it reported 969 isolated coronary artery bypass procedures with observed operative mortality of 0.8%, compared with an STS expected rate of 1.6%. It reported 408 isolated aortic valve replacements with observed mortality of 0.0% versus 1.6% expected, and 447 isolated mitral valve repairs with observed mortality of 0.0% versus 0.7% expected. 3

Programs recognized for surgical quality

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons uses a separate quality framework that can provide additional context for cardiac surgery. Cleveland Clinic received three-star composite quality ratings, the highest designation described in its report, for several operations during the three-year period ending in June 2025. Its reported 2025 figures also included 213 combined aortic valve replacement and bypass procedures, with observed mortality of 1.9% compared with an STS expected rate of 3.4%. 3

Northwell Health reported that five of its cardiothoracic programs received three-star ratings in the most recent STS report, which evaluated 945 peer facilities across the United States and Canada between January 2023 and December 2025. Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital achieved three-star ratings in all six surgical categories for the third consecutive time, while South Shore University Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital, Staten Island University Hospital, and Danbury Hospital received multiple three-star ratings. 4

Specialized services and complex cases

Cardiac surgery programs differ in the conditions and procedures they emphasize. UCSF Health describes services including minimally invasive surgery and a large heart transplant program, while Penn Medicine reports that its surgeons perform more than 3,000 cardiac procedures annually. Penn also describes specialized postoperative intensive care, cardiac rehabilitation, multidisciplinary staffing, clinical trials, and second-opinion services as components of its cardiac surgery pathway. 7 8

Ascension Saint Thomas Heart reported a three-star STS rating for coronary artery bypass surgery and for combined aortic valve replacement with bypass surgery. The organization stated that the combined procedure distinction was earned by 3.8% of participating programs, while its CABG distinction was achieved by 22% of hospitals nationwide. These figures illustrate why the relevant operation matters: a hospital may perform strongly in one category while having a different profile in another. 5

Practical factors beyond a national ranking

Patients comparing hospitals should examine the exact operation, the surgeon's experience with that operation, observed and risk-adjusted outcomes, ICU resources, rehabilitation arrangements, transplant capability when relevant, and the process for managing complications. UCSF states that its heart transplant outcomes exceed national averages, while Penn describes 24-hour care in a specialized heart surgery intensive care unit. Such information is useful, but hospital-reported descriptions should be reviewed alongside independent databases and clinician guidance. 7 8

Travel, insurance network rules, referral requirements, postoperative lodging, caregiver availability, and transfer arrangements can affect whether a distant referral center is practical. Rankings also have limitations because eligibility thresholds, data periods, risk adjustment, and category definitions vary. Deborah Heart and Lung Center, for example, received a U.S. News High Performing designation for heart bypass surgery, heart arrhythmia, and heart failure, demonstrating that a hospital may be particularly relevant for a specific condition without appearing at the top of an overall specialty list. 9

Interpreting recognition without overreliance

Cleveland Clinic remained nationally ranked in cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery at number eight in the 2026 to 2027 U.S. News reporting, while also receiving recognition in 13 of 14 specialties and a place on the national Honor Roll. Its separate STS results offer procedure-level detail that a broad ranking cannot provide. The combination shows why patients and clinicians often need both institutional reputation measures and operation-specific outcomes when evaluating complex care. 6 3

No ranking can determine the appropriate treatment for an individual patient. Operative risk depends on the diagnosis, urgency, age, coexisting conditions, anatomy, prior procedures, and whether surgery, catheter-based treatment, or medical management is recommended. A meaningful consultation should clarify expected benefits, material risks, alternatives, recovery requirements, and the hospital's recent results for the proposed procedure. National recognition can guide research, but it should not replace an individualized decision made with qualified cardiovascular specialists.

Sources

1. Cardiovascular Business, “The best hospitals in the United States for heart care”
2. Becker's Cardiology, “50 best hospitals for cardiology, heart and vascular surgery”
3. Cleveland Clinic Consult QD, “Vital Statistics in Adult Cardiac Surgery, Including Valve and Aorta Operations”
4. Northwell Health, “Five Northwell hospitals achieve top ratings for cardiac surgery excellence”
5. Ascension, “Ascension Saint Thomas Heart Program Receives National Recognition for Excellence in Heart Surgery”
6. Cleveland Clinic Newsroom, “Cleveland Clinic One of the Nation’s Best Hospitals”
7. UCSF Health, “Cardiac Surgery”
8. Penn Medicine, “Cardiac Surgery”
9. Deborah Heart and Lung Center, “Earns High Performing Rating from U.S. News for Four Specialties”