Albert B. Chandler Hospital Ranks First in Kentucky

The University of Kentucky hospital led 15 Kentucky facilities on Newsweek's America's Best-in-State Hospitals 2027 list.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Healthcare

Albert B. Chandler Hospital Ranks First in Kentucky

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University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital ranked first in Kentucky on Newsweek's America's Best-in-State Hospitals 2027 list, with fifteen Kentucky hospitals recognized overall. Baptist Health Lexington, St. Elizabeth Edgewood Hospital, Baptist Health Louisville and UK King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland followed in the state rankings.

Why it matters

The annual ranking, developed by Newsweek and Statista, evaluates 800 hospitals nationwide and gives patients and referring clinicians a comparative view of facilities across the state. Hospital quality metrics make up half of each hospital's score, making the ranking a reference point for care quality in Kentucky.

Fifteen of the 800 hospitals on the national list are in Kentucky, and Baptist Health accounts for seven of them. Quality metrics carry 50% of each hospital's score, while reputation carries 28.5%, patient experience 15% and patient-reported outcomes 6.5%.

The players

Newsweek

Newsweek is a global news and media outlet that publishes annual rankings of hospitals and other institutions.

Statista

Statista is a German-founded data and statistics platform that partners with Newsweek to develop its hospital rankings.

Albert B. Chandler Hospital

Albert B. Chandler Hospital is the flagship hospital of the University of Kentucky's academic medical center in Lexington.

Baptist Health

Baptist Health is a Kentucky-based health system that operates seven of the state's 15 hospitals recognized on the list.

The details

The evaluation combines hospital quality metrics, recommendations from medical professionals, patient experience data and patient-reported outcome measures. The reputation component drew on a nationwide survey of medical professionals conducted from June through July 2026, in which participants could recommend hospitals within and outside their states but could not recommend their own employers.

June through July 2026: Nationwide medical professional reputation survey conducted.
November 5, 2026: Kentucky hospital rankings announced.

Market Landscape

Newsweek's annual hospital rankings, now published in state-level editions, extend a recurring evaluation series that assesses hospitals by quality, reputation and patient experience. Kentucky's 2027 results place a regional academic medical center first, with several health systems competing for the remaining top positions.

Patients choosing a hospital in Kentucky can use the ranking as one comparative reference alongside their physician's recommendations and their own insurance network. Those who live near Lexington, Louisville, Edgewood, Ashland, Elizabethtown, Paducah, La Grange, Corbin or Richmond may find these recognized facilities among their nearest options.

The takeaway

Kentuckians comparing hospitals can treat the Newsweek 2027 list as one input among several, weighing quality metrics alongside the patient experience and physician recommendations that the ranking itself combines.