Israel’s Sheba Medical Center ranked sixth-smartest hospital in the world

Sheba attributed its performance in the ranking in part to initiatives led by its Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate (ARC) innovation center.

By David Israel, TPS

Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan was ranked the sixth-smartest hospital in the world in Newsweek and Statista’s World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2026 ranking, which assesses hospitals’ use of technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

Sheba was the highest-ranked Israeli medical center and the only Israeli institution in the top 10, rising from ninth place in the previous ranking.

It has appeared on the list for six consecutive years alongside institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital.

The ranking considers how hospitals incorporate technology into clinical practice, including AI, robotics, telemedicine, digital imaging, and electronic medical records.

Its methodology includes recommendations from health care experts, questionnaires on technology implementation, and Joint Commission International accreditation.

Sheba attributed its performance in the ranking in part to initiatives led by its Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate (ARC) innovation center.

These include an AI center backed by an investment of approximately NIS 100 million ($27 million), which works in part with OpenAI, and research combining AI and genomics in collaboration with Mount Sinai’s medical school and NVIDIA.

The hospital has also developed SmartER, a platform that provides AI tools for clinicians, and deployed systems designed to identify patients suitable for hospitalization at home and monitor them remotely.

Sheba is expanding ARC’s international presence, with new centers planned or being established in Berlin and Boston, in addition to eight existing centers worldwide.

Sheba director Prof. Yitshak Kreiss described advanced health care as “a strategic infrastructure for national resilience” and economic growth.

Prof. Eyal Zimlichman, who heads the hospital’s AI and digital transformation efforts and leads ARC, said a smart hospital “is not measured by the number of technologies it develops” but by how effectively they are used in daily care.

Sheba also ranked first among Israeli hospitals in Newsweek’s 2026 World’s Best Hospitals ranking, placing seventh worldwide.

That ranking uses different criteria, including recommendations from medical experts, quality indicators, patient experience, and patient-reported outcomes.