Healthgrades Recognizes University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center as National Leader in Specialty Care

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center (UM St. Joseph), a member of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), has achieved numerous accolades in Healthgrades’ 2025 Specialty Excellence Awards. The hospital earned 39 awards overall, including awards placing UM St. Joseph among the nation’s top 5% for overall orthopedic care, spine surgery and outpatient orthopedic surgery, and among the top 10% in the nation for surgical care and gastrointestinal surgery. The hospital also achieved five-star ratings for 15 inpatient and outpatient services, including treatment of heart attack, treatment of heart failure, pacemaker procedures and stroke, as well as outpatient total hip replacement, back and neck, and rotator cuff surgery, among others.

In addition to these national recognitions, UM SJMC was ranked #1 in Maryland for orthopedic surgery and overall surgical care. These achievements place UM SJMC in the top tier of hospitals for specialty care nationwide and reflect the organization’s commitment to delivering exceptional care year after year.

“These awards speak to our commitment to our patients and our dedication to very purposefully creating clinical environments and care spaces focused on zero harm and clinical excellence,” says Thomas B. Smyth, MD, UM St. Joseph’s president and chief executive officer. “Together, team members across the hospital and throughout our medical system collaborate at every level and at every touchpoint to design treatment protocols and settings that are consistently safe, effective and caring. We are proud of our continuing legacy of patient safety and innovation, which helps to save and improve lives.”

UM St. Joseph’s achievements are based on patient outcomes. As part of its 2025 hospital assessment, Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for over 30 of the most common conditions and procedures at approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide to determine the top performers in specialty care. By offering easy access to objective performance measures, Healthgrades—the #1 site Americans use when searching for a doctor or hospital—helps consumers find and select a hospital that excels in providing the care they need.

“Healthgrades commends University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center for their clear commitment to delivering consistently superior patient outcomes in critical service areas, including orthopedic surgery, spine surgery, heart care, GI surgery, critical care, and more,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades. “UM St. Joseph’s leadership, expertise, and unwavering dedication to clinical excellence set a high mark for specialty care in Maryland and nationwide.”

2025 Specialty Excellence Awards Highlights for UM St. Joseph Medical Center:

• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery^TM (four years in a row)
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery^TM (two years in a row)
• #1 in Maryland for Orthopedic Surgery
• #1 in Maryland for Surgical Care
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack (10 years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure (10 years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Pacemaker Procedures (three years in a row)
• Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award (four years in a row)
• Spine Surgery Excellence Award (two years in a row)
• Top 5% in the Nation for Overall Orthopedic Services (four years in a row)
• Top 5% in the Nation for Spine Surgery (two years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Total Hip Replacement (10 years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke (five years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award^TM
• Top 10% in the Nation for Gastrointestinal Surgery (seven years in a row)
• 2025 Healthgrades Surgical Care Excellence Award^TM
• Top 10% in the Nation for Surgical Care
• America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Joint Replacement^TM (two years in a row)
• Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award^TM (two years in a row)
• Outpatient Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award^TM (two years in a row)
• Top 10% in the Nation for Outpatient Joint Replacement (two years in row)
• Top 5% in the Nation for Outpatient Orthopedic Surgery (two years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Outpatient Total Hip Replacement
• Five-Star Recipient for Outpatient Back and Neck Surgery (two years in a row)
• Five-Star Recipient for Rotator Cuff Surgery (two years in a row)

Visit our awards page for more information on the hospital’s ongoing recognition for clinical and patient safety excellence. Visit healthgrades.com to learn more about how Healthgrades measures hospital quality.

About University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center
Founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, UM St. Joseph Medical Center is a 221-bed Catholic, not-for-profit regional medical center in Towson, Maryland, that offers a wide range of superb clinical programs and centers of excellence, including the Cancer, Heart and Orthopedic Institutes, Women and Children's services and Emergency Medicine. The medical center's committed focus on zero patient harm, clinical excellence and perfect patient experiences spurred the creation of the hospital's unique approach to care, The UM St. Joseph Value Delivery System, and has consistently earned UM St. Joseph regional and national recognition for patient care and safety, including its ranking as the #1 community hospital in Maryland by U.S. News & World Report. UM St. Joseph is a proud member of the 11-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, dedicated to providing loving service and compassionate, leading-edge care to all.

About the University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit umms.org.

About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering meaningful connections between patients, doctors, and hospitals. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content. For over 20 years, our health system, group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have helped our partners reach and engage consumers on their way to the doctor. Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio, including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central and Bezzy, which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives each month.