A Tour of America's Best Hospitals

It's no secret that all hospitals are not equal  The special quality shared by the 152 that made it into the new  Best Hospitals rankings (out of nearly 5,000 that were considered), and even more so by the 14 in this year's Honor Roll, is their ability to take on and meet the most difficult challenges.

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

4. Cleveland Clinic

6. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell

7. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center

8. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis

9. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

11. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston

12. University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle

13. UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

14. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor