UCSF Medical Center, part of UCSF Health and affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine, is a 600-bed academic medical center made up of three campuses that serve as San Francisco’s academic hub for tertiary and quaternary care. Its roots trace to 1864, when the UCSF School of Medicine was founded; the school became part of the University of California in 1873 and opened its first UC hospital at the Parnassus Heights campus in 1907. UCSF Medical Center has been named to U.S. News & World Report‘s “Best Hospitals” honor roll for adult care for the 30th consecutive year, and in the 2026-2027 rankings it tied as the highest-ranked hospital in California and was named the best hospital in the San Francisco metropolitan area. The medical center ranked among the nation’s top 10 hospitals in 10 specialties, more than any other hospital in California, and was ranked best in the nation in geriatrics and in pulmonology and lung surgery. The medical center also ranked No. 1 in California in six specialties, including neurology and neurosurgery, rheumatology, urology, and diabetes and endocrinology. UCSF Medical Center received “high-performing” ratings in 22 of 23 adult procedures and conditions evaluated. UCSF Mission Bay, which opened in 2015, expanded care to children, women and cancer patients, while the Mount Zion campus, about a mile north of the main campus, is home to the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and serves as a major ambulatory training site.
