These are the best hospitals in NC, report says. See the full list

U.S. News & World Report released its 2025-2026 Best Hospitals ranking Tuesday, July 29, recognizing one North Carolina hospital for outstanding care.

Duke University Hospital in Durham was highlighted as one of the best hospitals in the nation. The hospital is nationally ranked in 11 adult and nine pediatric specialties, according to U.S. News.

Many other hospitals, including a few in Charlotte and Raleigh areas, received high marks from U.S. News – but are they safe?

Here’s what you need to know.

Best hospitals in NC

Here are the 10 best hospitals in North Carolina, according to U.S. News:

• Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC
• UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC
• Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC
• UNC Rex Hospital, Raleigh, NC
• ECU Health Medical Center, Greenville, NC
• FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, Pinehurst, NC
• Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, NC
• Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, Charlotte, NC
• Atrium Health Cabarrus, Concord, NC

How safe are these hospitals?

Though the top 10 hospitals received high ratings from U.S. News, some of them could improve their safety standards, according to The Leapfrog Group, a national health care watchdog group.

Leapfrog released its spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grades on Thursday, May 1, scoring local hospitals with A through F letter grades. Grades are based on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections that kill or harm patients.

The top two hospitals, plus FirstHealth Moore and Novant Health Presbyterian, were the only hospitals on the U.S. News list that received “A” grades from Leapfrog. The rest got “B” grades.

According to Leapfrog’s report, the hospitals that received “B” grades scored low marks in preventing patient infections, such as MRSA and blood infections, along with other safety problems, like dangerous bed sores, collapsed lungs and patient falls.

Where are the most unsafe hospitals in NC?

Most hospitals in Charlotte and the Triangle received “A” or “B” grades, but a couple got subpar grades, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

Atrium Health University City was the only hospital in Charlotte to earn a “C” grade. In its report, Leapfrog said the hospital could improve on prevalence of patient infections and communication between hospital staff.

In the Triangle, Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford was the only hospital to earn a “C” grade. The hospital received low marks for prevalence of harmful events following a surgery and patient falls.

One hospital in North Carolina earned a “D” grade: Granville Medical Center in Oxford, about 30 miles north of Durham. The hospital was dinged for patients developing dangerous bed sores, prevalence of blood clots and unsafe handwashing habits from hospital staff.

How did U.S. News come up with its findings?

U.S. News evaluates thousands of hospitals through a mix of data-driven performance measures and expert opinions. Here’s what they examine:

• Patient outcomes: Based on factors such as survival rates for patients with serious conditions, how many patients are readmitted after being sent home and rates of unexpected complications or deaths
• Patient experience and safety: Based on factors such as infection rates, how often hospitals use preventable practices and use of intensive care units when needed
• Hospital resources and services: Based on factors such as access to advanced technology and availability of specialized staff.
• Reputation among doctors: Thousands of specialist physicians across the country are surveyed and asked which hospitals they’d send their sickest patients to.
• Specialty and procedure ratings: Hospitals are evaluated in categories like adult specialties, pediatric specialties and common procedures.

This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 7:52 AM.

Evan Moore

The Charlotte Observer

Evan Moore is a service journalism reporter for the Charlotte Observer. He grew up in Denver, North Carolina, where he previously worked as a reporter for the Denver Citizen, and is a UNC Charlotte graduate.