St. Jude ranks third in U.S. pediatric cancer hospital survey

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ranked third among pediatric cancer hospitals in the United States in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Children’s Hospitals” list, released September 15, 2026. The designation places the Memphis hospital in the top three of 50 selected hospitals spanning 11 pediatric specialties. Unlike a clinical trial or an evaluation of a specific cancer treatment, this annual hospital ranking combines key clinical data with a detailed survey of pediatric specialists. St. Jude has been included every year since the rankings began in 2008.

The pediatric cancer ranking evaluates hospitals using multiple measures of care and institutional capacity. These include patient outcomes such as mortality rates and infection prevention, as well as bone marrow transplantation services, programs for particular forms of cancer, available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. The annual list therefore represents a broad comparative assessment of pediatric hospitals rather than a single metric or the result of newly conducted cancer research. The announcement did not provide the numerical scores assigned to St. Jude or the two hospitals above it, nor did it report patient volumes or comparative survival figures. As a result, the size of any performance difference between the third-ranked hospital and its higher-ranked counterparts cannot be determined from the release.

For St. Jude, the recognition comes as the institution marks more than six decades of work in pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded in 1962, St. Jude was designed to connect laboratory research with clinical care, combining expertise in rare and difficult pediatric conditions with the testing of more effective and less toxic therapies. The hospital describes itself as the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Care Center devoted solely to children. Its announcement also states that St. Jude conducts the most pediatric cancer clinical trials in the United States and maintains high survival rates for childhood cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia and medulloblastoma. Those institutional claims provide context for the hospital’s cancer-care role, although the release does not specify the underlying sample sizes, survival estimates or time periods needed to compare those outcomes directly with other hospitals.

Ellis Neufeld, St. Jude’s clinical director, physician-in-chief and executive vice president, said the U.S. News & World Report designation recognizes the dedication of the hospital’s employees. He described the institution’s shared mission as advancing cures and methods of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and clinical care. “Our patients are at the center of everything we do — from laboratory discovery to clinical impact,” Neufeld said. St. Jude’s broader work includes cancer, life-threatening blood disorders, neurological conditions and infectious diseases, with collaborations involving peer institutions worldwide and support for care closer to home through home physicians and affiliate clinics. These are institutional commitments described in the announcement; the release does not establish that them as factors in the hospital’s third-place ranking. The ranking itself is based on the published clinical-data, survey, resource and best-practice measures.

Subject of Research: St. Jude’s third-place ranking among U.S. pediatric cancer hospitals in the 2026 Best Children’s Hospitals assessment

Article Title: US News & World Report ranks St. Jude among top three outstanding pediatric cancer hospitals

Article References: US News & World Report ranks St. Jude among top three outstanding pediatric cancer hospitals. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, pediatric cancer, hospital rankings, childhood cancer, clinical outcomes, pediatric oncology, clinical trials, U.S. News & World Report, News, World, Report, ranks