Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital are once again ranked among the best hospitals in the United States in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Hospitals” rankings. The hospitals have been included in the rankings since 2009, when the University of Southern California purchased the hospitals.

USC-affiliated Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, staffed exclusively by faculty physicians from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, also was named last month to U.S. News’ Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll, and ranked in the top five in the nation.

Keck Hospital of USC also ranked #3 in the Los Angeles metro area and #8 in California.

Among specialty areas, Keck Hospital of USC was ranked in the top 10 nationally for ophthalmology (#9), and among the top 50 for urology (#29), neurology and neurosurgery (#33), and ear, nose and throat (#49).

USC Norris Cancer Hospital was ranked #48 in the country in cancer care.

In addition, Keck Hospital of USC was ranked as “high performing” in seven specialties, including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery, gynecology, nephrology, orthopaedics, and pulmonology.

Hospitals ranked as high performing were within the top 25 percent of a given specialty range.

“Patients know they can count on us for highly skilled, compassionate care in these specialties,” said Tom Jackiewicz, senior vice president and chief executive officer, USC Health. “Acknowledgement of our skills and excellence from outside organizations such as U.S. News & World Report underscores the dedication to our mission, which is to be a trusted leader in quality health care.”

The rankings have been published at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals and appear in print in the U.S. News & World Report.

“According to U.S. News, the hospitals recognized by these rankings are selected because they do the best job of treating the most challenging patients,” said Scott Evans, CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital. “There’s a reason we are ranked so highly, and it’s because of the faculty physicians, nurses and staff here. Every day they improve the lives of our patients, and it’s gratifying to see their hard work honored.”

U.S. News publishes Best Hospitals to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age. Objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties.