HEALTH
Iowa’s top-ranked hospital earns national recognition in 2 fields
Lucia ChengDes Moines Register
Aug. 4, 2026, 6:03 a.m. CT
The University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center in Iowa City continues to hold a spot among the top hospitals in the United States for multiple specialties
U.S. News & World Report released its 37th annual ranking of the best hospitals across the nation after evaluating nearly 4,500 hospitals across dozens of specialties, procedures and conditions. Only 16% of evaluated hospitals earned a Best Hospitals designation
What is the top hospital in Iowa?
U.S. News & World Report ranked the UI Health Care Medical Center the number one hospital in Iowa. Here are the specialities it ranked nationally in:
- Ophthalmology: No. 6
- Obstetrics and Gynecology: No. 39
UI Health also had 14 specialties designated as “High-Performing,” a label given to hospitals that are significantly better than the national average in a given procedure or condition. Hospitals named as a High Performing hospital have earned the highest distinction a hospital can earn for U.S. News’ Best Hospitals Procedures & Conditions ratings:
- Cancer
- Gastroenterology & GI surgery
- Orthopedics
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Colon cancer surgery
- Ear, nose and throat surgery
- Gynecological cancer surgery
- Heart attack
- Heart bypass surgery
- Hip replacement
- Leukemia lymphoma and myeloma
- Lung cancer surgery
- Maternity care
- Prostate cancer surgery
The report changed its methodology in 2026 to highlight 505 Best Regional Hospitals. It now has additional rankings for different regions in four areas:
- Cancer
- Cardiology, heart and vascular surgery
- Orthopedics
- Rehabilitation
UI Health Care Medical Center ranked first in the state for cancer and orthopedics using this new system
How did Des Moines hospitals rank?
No other hospitals in Iowa were nationally ranked for any specialties
In Des Moines, MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center and UnityPoint Iowa Methodist Medical Center each were ranked “high-performing” in seven categories
MercyOne is high performing in:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
- Aortic valve surgery
- Back surgery
- Colon cancer surgery
- Hip replacement
- Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement
UnityPoint is high performing in:
- Rehabilitation
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
- Aortic valve surgery
- Back surgery
- Colon cancer surgery
- Hip replacement
- Knee replacement
- Prostate cancer surgery
How did U.S. News & World Report make its Best Hospitals ranking?
U.S. News analyzes each hospital’s performance based on measures such as risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and patient experience. Data is drawn from more than 800 million records of patient care
The outlet gave risk-adjusted outcome measure more weight in 2026. The way the cardiology, heart and vascular surgery speciality is ranked also changed
Des Moines Register reporter Cooper Worth contributed to this article
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132
