Some achievements cannot be measured by a ranking alone. Behind a third, fourth or eighth-place finish in the world, are people, difficult diagnoses, nights spent in hospital wards, years of research, highly delicate procedures and families entrusting medicine with the hope of changing the course of a disease.

That is why the latest edition of World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2027 tells a story that goes far beyond a simple international ranking. It reflects an Italian health care system that continues to compete with the world’s leading institutions in some of the most complex medical specialties.

The ranking covers 13 major areas of medicine: cardiology, cardiac surgery, oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, nephrology, pulmonology and urology.

And once again, Italy is represented among the world’s leading institutions.

Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic ranks third worldwide in gynecology, while Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital takes fourth place in pediatrics. Then there is an eighth-place ranking that carries particular significance for the province of Teramo.

It belongs to Milan’s Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, which ranks eighth in the world in neurology and eleventh in neurosurgery.

Leading one of Europe’s and the world’s most prestigious medical and research institutions is Angelo Cordone, a native of Abruzzo. Under his leadership, the institute has remained an international reference center for the study and treatment of some of the most complex neurological disorders.

The Besta’s achievement also speaks to the province of Teramo and to Abruzzo. It tells the story of a professional who began his career in a region far from the major centers of international research and went on to lead an institution where science, technology, health care management and an extraordinary concentration of expertise come together every day.

Patients arrive at Besta with rare diseases, complex neurological conditions, long and complicated medical histories and diagnoses that require consultation among specialists from different fields. Neurologists, neurosurgeons, researchers, radiologists, geneticists and other specialists work side by side because modern medicine leaves less and less room for the lone expert and increasingly depends on teams able to share knowledge and responsibility.

That may be one of the most important measures of excellence in modern health care: the ability to turn research into better treatment options.

Italy also ranks among the world’s leading institutions in numerous other specialties.

The Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna ranks ninth worldwide in orthopedics. Gemelli is eleventh in gastroenterology. Milan’s European Institute of Oncology ranks fourteenth in oncology, while the Monzino Cardiology Center takes seventeenth place in cardiology.

Italy’s strong presence in cardiology continues with institutions including San Raffaele, Gemelli, San Donato Polyclinic, Niguarda and Sant’Orsola-Malpighi.

The country also has numerous internationally recognized centers in cardiac surgery, including Monzino, San Raffaele, Sant’Orsola-Malpighi, Niguarda, San Camillo Forlanini, San Donato Polyclinic, Padua University Hospital and Rome’s Sant’Andrea Hospital.