28 Illinois Hospitals Named To The “Best In The US” List

On the old TV show M*A*S*H, the unofficial slogan of the 4077th was "Best Care Anywhere," but here in Illinois that slogan could cover any number of hospitals throughout the state (and none that require your surgery to take place in a tent).

With all sorts of talk about cost, quality, and availability of medical care in today's world, it's nice to know that this many Illinois hospitals made such a good showing on the Forbes 2026 Top Hospitals study.

I know, we'd all prefer to keep ourselves out of the hospital, but if you have to go, here are some good choices that are available in the Land of Lincoln.

Illinois Shines on Forbes’ First-ever Top Hospitals List

Illinois is well represented on Forbes’ debut “Top Hospitals 2026” rankings, with 28 different hospitals across the state earning 4 or 5-star ratings and being named among the best general acute care hospitals in the entire country.

That broad representation shows the depth and quality of care available in communities from Chicago to Rockford, Belleville to Kankakee.

Here's what criteria Forbes used to make their determinations:

• Forbes selected 56 quality measures from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data, covering things like mortality, readmissions, infections, patient safety, and hospital practices.
• Those 56 measures were aggregated into four “pillars,” each carrying a different weight in the overall score: Outcomes (55%), Best Practices (20%), Value (15%), and Patient Experience (10%).
• Each hospital’s results were turned into a 0 to 1 overall score, which was then converted to a star rating (1 to 5) based on percentile. The top hospitals (4 and 5-star) make the “Top Hospitals” list.

Here Are The 28 Illinois Hospitals On The Forbes List, Along With Their Star Ratings

1. Ascension Saint Joseph, Chicago: 5 stars
2. Blessing Hospital, Quincy: 5 stars
3. Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest: 5 stars
4. Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield: 5 stars
5. Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, Geneva: 5 stars
6. Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, McHenry: 5 stars
7. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago: 5 stars
8. Rush University Medical Center: 5 stars
9. UChicago Medicine AdventHealth La Grange, La Grange: 5 stars
10. Advocate Condell Medical Center, Libertyville: 4 stars
11. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington: 4 stars
12. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge: 4 stars
13. Advocate Sherman Hospital, Elgin: 4 stars
14. Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton: 4 stars
15. Ascension Saint Alexius, Hoffman Estates: 4 stars
16. Clay County Hospital, Flora: 4 stars
17. Elmhurst Hospital, Elmhurst: 4 stars
18. Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital, Evanston: 4 stars
19. Javon Bea Hospital Riverside, Rockford: 4 stars
20. Swedish American Hospital, Rockford: 4 stars
21. Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Belleville: 4 stars
22. OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, Ottawa: 4 stars
23. Resurrection Medical Center, Chicago: 4 stars
24. Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee: 4 stars
25. Rush Copley Medical Center, Aurora: 4 stars
26. Silver Cross Hospital, New Lenox: 4 stars
27. St. Mary's Hospital, Kankakee: 4 stars
28. UChicago Medicine AdventHealth, Hinsdale: 4 stars