Best Hospitals For Specialty Care In VA Named In New 2027 Rankings

Thirty-five hospitals in Virginia are among those recognized in new national rankings that compare how well hospitals keep patients alive and prevent complications during treatment for heart disease, joint replacement, stroke and other medical conditions.

The 2027 rankings released Tuesday by Healthgrades identify hospitals with better outcomes in specific areas of care, rather than assigning a single overall ranking to every hospital.

Healthgrades, a website that provides information about doctors and hospitals, evaluated approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide using data on 31 common medical procedures and conditions. Its annual assessment includes national awards for specialty and outpatient care, along with state rankings in 30 states.

The rankings offer patients a way to compare hospitals before undergoing surgery or seeking treatment for a serious medical condition. They also show that a hospital's performance can vary depending on the type of care a patient needs.

Virginia Hospital Rankings

In Virginia, 35 hospitals received recognition for specialty care, eight of them in Northern Virginia.

• Inova Alexandria Hospital, Inova Loudoun Hospital and Inova Fairfax Hospital were recognized for their cardiology and pulmonary care, among other specialties.

• Inova Fair Oaks Hospital and Reston Hospital Center were recognized for their gastrointestinal care, among other services.

Inova Alexandria Hospital received the most Specialty Excellence Awards among Northern Virginia hospitals with 11, followed by Inova Fairfax Hospital with eight.

The state rankings identify the top three or five eligible hospitals in each of 19 specialties, including cardiac care, orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, stroke care, pulmonary care and gastrointestinal surgery.

The number of hospitals ranked depends on how many facilities in a state qualify for evaluation in a particular specialty. States with six or fewer eligible hospitals in a specialty are excluded from that ranking.

Patients can review the state rankings and search for hospitals through Healthgrades.

The company also named hospitals to its national Specialty Excellence Awards, which recognize facilities in the top 15 percent of eligible hospitals in their respective specialties. More selective distinctions identify the nation’s top 50 or 100 hospitals in certain categories.

Nine Virginia hospitals ranked among the country’s 50 best in their specialties.

Three were in Northern Virginia: Inova Alexandria Hospital and Inova Fair Oaks Hospital ranked among the top 50 for emergency hospitalization and Reston Hospital Center ranked among the top 50 for surgical care.

More Surgeries Move Outpatient

The new awards also reflect a shift to outpatient surgery. Hospitals in Northern Virginia earning exemplary ratings include:

Reston Hospital Center, UVA Health Prince William Medical Center, Inova Alexandria Hospital and Mary Washington Hospital were recognized for their outpatient prostate care.

Mary Washington Hospital was also recognized for its outpatient joint replacement and outpatient orthopedic surgery.

According to Healthgrades’ analysis, outpatient hip replacement procedures increased 81 percent from 2020 to 2025, while inpatient hip replacements declined 75 percent.

Outpatient knee replacements increased 71 percent during the same period, while inpatient procedures fell 70 percent.

The changes reflect a movement toward performing certain procedures without an overnight hospital stay.

Healthgrades separately recognized hospitals for outpatient orthopedic surgery, joint replacement and prostate care.

What The Data Shows

Healthgrades based its inpatient analysis on Medicare patient records from 2023 through 2025, examining deaths and complications associated with specific procedures and medical conditions.

The company estimated that 227,229 deaths and 158,138 complications among Medicare patients over those three years could potentially have been avoided if all hospitals evaluated had performed at the level of hospitals receiving its highest five-star ratings.

Those figures are statistical estimates, not documented cases in which different hospital care would necessarily have prevented a death or complication. They also apply to Medicare patients, rather than all hospital patients nationwide.

Healthgrades adjusts its comparisons for patient risk factors, including age and medical conditions, but the rankings are not a guarantee of an individual patient's outcome.

The results may be particularly useful for patients comparing hospitals for a specific procedure. A hospital recognized for heart surgery, for example, is not necessarily among the highest-rated facilities for orthopedic care.

Healthgrades uses its own methodology to determine which hospitals receive recognition. Its analysis emphasizes clinical outcomes, including mortality and complications, and should be considered alongside other factors such as physician recommendations, insurance coverage, access to specialists and individual medical needs.