From tumours to the heart: here are the Italian hospitals at the top of world rankings

There are 41 tricolour flags flying in the ranking of the 'World's Best Specialised Hospitals 2026', just drawn up by the weekly Newsweek in collaboration with the research company Statista: these are the new world rankings of hospitals by speciality. The overwhelming majority of these facilities are in northern Italian regions, then there is a share of the Centre almost all concentrated in Rome, while Naples is home to the only two facilities in the South. The ranking brings together the world's leading hospitals specialising in 12 medical fields. It includes the top 300 hospitals for cardiology and oncology, the top 250 for paediatrics, and then the top 150 hospitals for cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pneumology and orthopaedics, and the top 125 for neurosurgery and urology. The ranking for neurology and obstetrics and gynaecology was increased by 25 hospitals to 150 and 125 facilities respectively.

What does this ranking tell us, which is drawn up on the basis of a worldwide online survey conducted from May to July 2025, using the opinions of thousands of medical professionals, accreditation and certification data, and a survey by Statista? As far as Italy is concerned, what emerges first of all is this imbalance on the North, which has many ranking facilities, and the absence of the country's southernmost regions. The tricolour region most represented is Lombardy, firmly in the lead in terms of the number of hospitals included in the ranking - 16 - and the city in which they are concentrated is Milan and its province, if we exclude 2 hospitals in Pavia and 1 in Bergamo. This is followed by Lazio, with 8 hospitals all based in Rome, and Piedmont with 4 (3 in Turin and 1 in Candiolo). Veneto and Tuscany respectively boast 3 hospitals in the ranking (the Venetians 2 in Padua and 1 in Venice, the Tuscans 2 in Florence and 1 in Pisa). Two facilities in the ranking for Emilia Romagna (both in Bologna) and Campania (Naples), and finally Liguria (Genoa), Friuli (Trieste) and Marche (Pesaro) each contribute 1 hospital. Italy has more facilities in the ranking than even very large countries. But it loses the comparison with its neighbours: France (66 hospitals in the ranking), Germany (59) and the United Kingdom (53) in fact boast higher numbers. While Spain is behind the Belpaese (with 28 facilities). The country with the record number of hospitals included in the ranking is America: in all, 173 facilities are located in the States.

Looking at the merits of each speciality, it emerges, for example, that in cardiac surgery, an area in which the Mayo Clinic of Rochester (Minnesota, USA) stands out, Italy's leading facility is the Monzino cardiology centre in Milan (24th), followed in 33rd place by another Milan-based centre, the San Raffaele-Gruppo San Donato, and by the Sant'Orsola Malpighi in Bologna (47th). And so in cardiology, where we find in first place the American Cleveland Clinic-Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute and first Italian centre again the Monzino in Milan in 14th place, second for Italy the San Raffaele Gruppo San Donato hospital (in 23rd place) and third the Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome (in 34th place). For pneumology, the top hospital is the Mayo Clinic and the highest ranking Italian centre is the Gemelli, followed by the San Camillo Forlanini at 51st and the Sant'Orsola Malpighi at 87th. In endocrinology, the American Mayo Clinic once again comes first and the top Italian hospital is the Gemelli in Rome at 34th place, followed by San Raffaele at 36th and the Azienda ospedaliero universitaria Pisana at 49th.

Once again the first place for the best hospitals specialising in gastroenterology (Mayo Clinic) remains unchanged; the first Italian facility in this field is tenth and that is the Gemelli of Rome, while the second is the Humanitas of Rozzano in 37th place (third is Padua in 51st). In neurology, the Mayo Clinic once again shines and the Besta Neurological Institute in Milan is the first Italian hospital, in 14th place in the global ranking for the discipline, followed by Gemelli in 31st place and San Raffaele in 45th. In neurosurgery too, Besta stands out in 17th place (first Mayo clinic), followed by the Niguarda in Milan (57th) and Gemelli (109). Italian podium for obstetrics and gynaecology, in the sense that Gemelli still ranks third in the global ranking by discipline, preceded by two American facilities: Johns Hopkins Hospital in first place and Cleveland Clinic in second. The second Italian hospital is 22nd (Niguarda) and the third is in 61st place, namely the Gaslini Institute in Genoa.

In oncology, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York ranks first. As many as 9 Italian hospitals are among the top 100: the first Italian hospital is the Irccs Ieo of Milan in 11th place, followed by the National Institute of Tumours (Int) of Milan in 27th place and Gemelli in 29th. This is followed by the Humanitas of Milan (45th), the Pascale of Naples (60th), the Niguarda (62nd), the San Raffaele (70th),the Irccs Istituto oncologico veneto (86th) and finally the Molinette of Turin (97th). For orthopaedics, the top step of the podium (Mayo) remains firm and the first Italian centre is in 11th place - the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute of Bologna - followed in 41st place by the Galeazzi-Sant'Ambrogio Hospital of Milan and in 87th place by the Gemelli. The top Canadian hospital in paediatrics (Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto) and the highest ranking Italian hospital is the Bambino Gesù of Rome in sixth place, followed by the Gaslini of Genoa in 32nd place and the Hospital Riuniti Marche Nord - San Salvatore Centro of Pesaro in 36th place. Closing the list of specialities is urology (first the Cleveland Clinic), where the first Italian hospital in the ranking is the Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova - Sant'Antonio Hospital, followed by San Raffaele (48th) and Gemelli (80th).