Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter

The magazine ranks hospitals in 17 specialties. To make it onto the "honor roll," hospitals had to rank at or near the top in at least six specialties. Hopkins was ranked first in ear, nose and throat; gynecology; kidney disease; rheumatology and urology.

In a joint letter announcing the news to all employees, Johns Hopkins CEO Dr. Edward Miller and President Ronald Peterson commended the hospital's staff, "We can't say it too often: The rankings are a worthy acknowledgment of the innovative and compassionate patient care that is Hopkins' hallmark - and of the people who make that kind of care possible."

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., was ranked second overall. Rounding out the top five overall hospitals were Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; Cleveland Clinic; and UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was named the best hospital for children for the third consecutive year.

The rankings were based on a combination of data and surveys of board-certified physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association's list of all 800,000 U.S. doctors.

According to the magazine, only 176 hospitals scored high enough this year to rank in even a single specialty out of all 6,007 U.S. medical centers, excluding military and veterans' hospitals. Only 16 were listed in the Hospital Honor Roll, reserved for medical centers ranked at or near the top in at least six specialties.

Hospitals that make the list generally adhere more closely to advanced treatment guidelines, incorporate new findings into patient care, and conduct research that gives ill patients more options.

U.S. News & World Report has published "America's Best Hospitals" for 16 years as a starting point to help consumers find the highest quality care. A full list of this year's national rankings will be published in the July 18 edition of the publication, available on newsstands Monday.