Duke University Medical Center has been ranked the top hospital in the Raleigh-Durham area according to U.S. News & World Report's first Best Hospitals metro area rankings.

For over 20 years, Duke University Medical Center has been named as one of the top hospitals in the United States in the annual U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals edition.

In the new metro rankings, Duke University Medical Center was nationally ranked in 15 of the specialties measured. Duke is the only hospital in the metro area to have five or more specialties ranked among the best in the nation.

Duke University Medical Center's national ranking in individual specialties includes:

• Cancer
• Heart and heart surgery
• Orthopaedics
• Neurology and neurosurgery
• Gynecology
• Urology
• Geriatrics
• Ear, nose, and throat / otolaryngology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Kidney disease
• Ophthalmology
• Respiratory disease and pulmonary
• Rheumatology
• Psychiatry

Duke University Health System's other two hospitals were also ranked -- Durham Regional Hospital at fourth and Duke Raleigh Hospital tied for fifth place with Rex Healthcare in the metro area.

U.S. News ranked hospitals within all 52 U.S. metro areas with populations of one million or more. The new rankings add 490 hospitals to the 132 nationally ranked Best Hospitals in the metro areas.

For the full list of metro area rankings, visit www.usnews.com/hospitals.