Over 5,400 hospitals and medical centers were evaluated with respect to such specialties as cancer; ear, nose, and throat; geriatrics, gynecology, heart and heart surgery; kidney disease; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology, and many other categories.

Of these thousands of hospitals and medical centers, 173 were selected to be included on the 2007 list based on their expertise in a broad range of medical pursuits.

The top ten are:

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, Maryland)
2. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota)
3. UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles, California)
4. Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)
5. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts)
6. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell (New York City)
7. Duke University Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina)
8. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (San Francisco, California)
9. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri)
10. Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts)

The complete U.S. News & World Report article and hospital listing can be found at the home website of the magazine: http://www.usnews.com/, or go straight to: http://health.usnews.com/sections/health/best-hospitals/index.html.

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