HUG Climbs to No. 1 in Switzerland in Newsweek’s Smart Hospitals Ranking

Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) are now Switzerland’s most advances hospital in the digital field. In the 2027 edition of Newsweek and Statista’s “World’s Best Smart Hospitals” ranking, published in October 2026, HUG jumped 37 places to 31st worldwide. That puts it 9th in Europe and first in Switzerland, a first for the Geneva institution. CHUV ranks 100th.

A five-year climb

HUG has moved steadily up the ranking since 2023, but this year’s leap is its biggest yet. From 161 on 2023, to 31 today. The ranking covers more than 400 hospitals in over 30 countries. As expected, large US institutions dominate the top: Mayo Clinic (Rochester) is first, followed by Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.

Behind the jump

Rodolphe Meyer, HUG’s Chief Medical Information Officer and Deputy CIO, credits the hospital’s digital transformation directorate (DTN-IA). He points in particular to DPI+, HUG’s in-house electronic patient record. He stresses that this progress came despite growing budget and staffing constraints.

Meyer also shares the credit with the medical and nursing directorates, and with the clinicians who adopt the tools and adapt them to daily practice.

That matters for the score. Newsweek’s criteria go beyond buying technology: they reward how well digital tools are woven into clinical processes, the patient experience and overall hospital strategy. The ranking combines three inputs:

• An international survey of hospital leaders and health professionals (May–June 2026), where no one could vote for their own institution
• Statista’s Smart Hospitals Digital Maturity Survey, completed by hospitals and validated by their digital leads
• National and international digital health accreditations and certifications

A six-member expert panel guides the method. It includes Christoph A. Meier, professor at the University of Geneva and former head of internal medicine at Zurich University Hospital.

How Switzerland fares

The race at the top in Switzerland is tight. Zurich University Hospital (USZ) ranks 37th, just six places behind HUG. Lausanne’s CHUV comes in at 100th. Across Europe, several German and Spanish hospitals also make the continent’s top 30. Rankings measure digital maturity, not outcomes. The real test is whether these tools make nurses’ work easier, hospitals more efficient and patient care better. HUG’s rise suggests Geneva is building the foundations; the coming years will show what they deliver at the bedside.

➡️ Source: World’s Best Smart Hospitals: les HUG gagnent 37 places et deviennent numéro un en Suisse, Medinside, 22 October 2026