Pennsylvania has 23 of the nation’s top 250 hospitals, analysis says
Twenty-three Pennsylvania hospitals placed among the top 250 in the nation for patient outcomes, according to a list released in January by health care information company Healthgrades.
Of the 23, seven were dubbed a top 50 hospital, and an additional five were a top 100 hospital. Only one campus, UPMC Lock Haven, is within 50 miles of Centre County’s population center of State College.
The top hospitals were largely clustered in southeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley. Notably absent is the health care-heavy city of Pittsburgh, though a hospital not making the list only means it didn’t crack the top 5% of hospitals using Healthgrades’ methodology.
Healthgrades says the rankings are determined by measuring patient complications and mortality for 31 different conditions (pneumonia, heart failure, etc.) and procedures (spinal fusions, knee replacements, etc.), while patients are hospitalized and 30 days after they are discharged. The company says it then adjusts for preexisting conditions, sex and age, and scores each facility on how patients fare relative to what their data suggests. For each condition or procedure, patient outcomes are rated “better than expected,” “as expected” or “worse than expected.”
The underlying inpatient data, Healthgrades says, is purchased from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
UPMC Lock Haven, which placed among the top 250 owing to its affiliation with UPMC Williamsport, fared better than expected post-discharge for sepsis, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeds and colorectal surgeries, for example. It also fared better than expected pre-discharge for sepsis, respiratory failure, bowel obstructions and pneumonia.
Centre County health network Mount Nittany, by contrast, fared better than expected in only two categories Healthgrades analyzed: hip fracture treatment and pulmonary embolisms. It performed “as expected” in the vast majority of other categories, and received high marks in 2024 for outpatient joint replacement and outpatient orthopedic surgery.
Healthgrades does not measure anything besides patient outcomes, meaning the rankings don’t capture patient experiences or hospital safety.
The Leapfrog Group, a healthcare information nonprofit, has grades for things like hospital safety. Leapfrog gave Mount Nittany Medical Center an A in hospital safety last year, while UPMC Lock Haven doesn’t appear in the grading.
Where Pennsylvania hospitals land in Healthgrades’ top 250
Top 50
- Chester County Hospital, West Chester
- Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster
- Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood
- Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey
- Reading Hospital, Reading
- Riddle Memorial Hospital, Media
- St. Luke’s Hospital-Bethlehem Campus, Bethlehem
- St Luke’s Hospital-Allentown Campus, Allentown (affiliated with Bethlehem campus)
- St Luke’s Hospital-Sacred Heart Campus, Allentown (affiliated with Bethlehem campus)
Top 100
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital, East Norriton
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia
- Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia
- WellSpan York Hospital, York
Top 250
- Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr
- Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton
- Grand View Health, Sellersville
- Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown
- Lehigh Valley Health Network-Cedar Crest, Allentown (affiliated with Lehigh Valley Hospital)
- Lehigh Valley Health Network-Highland, Bethlehem (affiliated with Lehigh Valley Hospital)
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, Bethlehem (affiliated with Lehigh Valley Hospital)
- Paoli Hospital, Paoli
- Penn Highlands Mon Valley, Monongahela
- Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center, Camp Hill
- UPMC Williamsport, Williamsport
- UPMC Lock Haven, Lock Haven (affiliated with UPMC Williamsport)
- WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, Ephrata
- WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, Lebanon
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
