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Accreditations, Awards and Recognitions

Accreditations, Awards and Recognitions

Northside was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in 2024 by workplace culture and compensation monitoring site Comparably. The hospital ranked among all Top Large employers (more than 500 employees) for Best Company Outlook, Best Career Growth, Best Company Perks & Benefits, Best Company Happiness, Best Leadership Teams and Best HR Teams.

The Northside system was honored by Newsweek in 2023-2024 across multiple awards programs, including World's Best Hospitals 2024, Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and Greatest Workplaces for Women. 

The Northside system ranked among Forbes’ 2024 list of America’s Best Employers By State and Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Great hospitals in America.” 

Northside hospitals have been recognized by HealthGrades with multiple awards for superior quality care and performance:

  • Atlanta: America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery Award (2025), Coronary Intervention Excellence Award (2023), Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award (2023)
  • Cherokee: Outstanding Patient Experience Award (2024, 2023, 2022), Pulmonary Care Excellence Award (2025, 2024), Stroke Care Excellence Award (2024), Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award (2025, 2024, 2023)
  • Duluth: America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Prostate Care Award (2025). Pulmonary Care Excellence Award (2024)
  • Forsyth: Outstanding Patient Experience Award (2023, 2022), America's 100 Best Hospitals for Joint Replacement Award (2024, 2023, 2022), America's 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Joint Replacement Award (2024), America's 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery Award (2023), Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award (2025, 2023), Surgical Care Excellence Award (2023, 2022), Stroke Care Excellence Award (2025)
  • Gwinnett: America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Prostate Care Award (2025), Pulmonary Care Excellence Award (2024, 2022), Stroke Care Excellence Award (2022)

Northside hospitals have earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for health care quality, receiving select Disease-Specific Care Certifications, including:

  • Atlanta: Acute Myocardial Infarction, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Joint Replacement - Hip, Joint Replacement - Knee, Lung Cancer, Pneumonia, Advanced Primary Stroke Center, Primary Heart Attack Center
  • Cherokee: Acute Myocardial Infarction, Joint Replacement - Hip, Joint Replacement - Knee, Pneumonia, Advanced Primary Stroke Center
  • Duluth: Advanced Primary Stroke Center
  • Forsyth: Acute Myocardial Infarction, Advanced Certification in Heart Failure, Joint Replacement - Hip, Joint Replacement - Knee, Pneumonia, Advanced Primary Stroke Center
  • Gwinnett: Comprehensive Cardiac Center, Joint Replacement - Hip, Joint Replacement - Knee, Pneumonia, Advanced Primary Stroke Center

All hospitals have received quality achievement awards from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines®, including:

  • Atlanta: Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, Heart Failure Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll, Stroke Gold Plus Achievement, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Resuscitation Silver Achievement
  • Cherokee: Heart Failure Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Stroke Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll Elite Plus, Resuscitation Gold Achievement
  • Duluth: Heart Failure Silver Achievement, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Stroke Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll Elite Plus
  • Forsyth: Heart Failure Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Stroke Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll
  • Gwinnett: Heart Failure Gold Plus Achievement, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Stroke Gold Plus Achievement with Honor Roll Elite Plus, 10-Year Recognition

All hospitals also achieved American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline® quality achievement awards for commitment and success in implementing exceptional standards of care for heart attack patients. 

  • Atlanta: NSTEMI: Gold, STEMI: Gold Receiving
  • Cherokee: NSTEMI: Gold, STEMI: Gold Plus Receiving
  • Forsyth: NSTEMI: Gold, STEMI: Gold Receiving
  • Gwinnett: NSTEMI: Gold, STEMI: Gold Plus Receiving

Northside Hospital Atlanta is the first in the country to receive Maternal Levels of Care (MLC) Verification from The Joint Commission, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Northside also is the first in Georgia to receive a Level IV Maternal Center Designation from DPH. Northside Cherokee and Northside Forsyth were named Level III maternal-care-verified facilities.

U.S. News & World Report rated Northside high performing in 2024-2025 across multiple specialties, procedures and conditions:

  • Atlanta: Cancer; Urology; Back surgery (spinal fusion); Colon cancer surgery; Gynecologic cancer surgery; Heart attack; Heart failure; Hip fracture; Hip replacement; Kidney failure; Knee replacement; Leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma; Lung cancer surgery, Pneumonia, Prostate cancer surgery and Stroke
  • Cherokee: Back surgery (spinal fusion); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; Colon cancer surgery; Heart attack; Heart failure; Kidney failure; Leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma; Pneumonia, Prostate cancer surgery and Stroke
  • Forsyth: Back surgery (spinal fusion); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); Colon cancer surgery; Diabetes; Heart attack; Heart failure; Hip replacement; Kidney failure; Knee replacement; Leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma; Pneumonia and Stroke
  • Gwinnett: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); Colon cancer surgery; Heart attack; Heart failure; Kidney failure; Leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma; Pneumonia and Stroke

In 2022, the Cardio-Oncology Program at Northside Hospital received gold standard Centers of Excellence Certification from the International Cardio-Oncology Society.

Northside Hospital Heart Institute received the Silver Level ELSO Award Of Excellence in Life Support from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) and is on the Path to Excellence. The honor distinguishes Northside for providing exceptional care in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

The Northside Duluth ICU/IMCU received the Beacon Award for Excellence® gold designation, and the Northside Gwinnett Surgical-Trauma ICU received the silver designation, from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Northside Gwinnett is verified as a Level II Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons and the Georgia Department of Public Health, Office of EMS and Trauma.

All five Northside hospitals are designated by the Georgia Department of Public Health, Office of EMS and Trauma as Primary Stroke Centers and Emergency Cardiac Care Centers. Northside Gwinnett is designated as a Level I Emergency Cardiac Care Center; Northside Atlanta, Northside Cherokee and Northside Forsyth are Level II Centers; and Northside Duluth is designated as a Level III Center.

Northside Gwinnett’s computerized tomography (CT) department was awarded the HeartFlow® CT Quality Award for excellence in cardiac imaging.

The bariatric surgery programs at Northside Atlanta, Northside Cherokee, Northside Duluth and Northside Forsyth are accredited by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.

For the 15th consecutive year (2009-2023), The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute was recognized as having among the best survival outcomes in the United States for bone marrow transplants, per data reported by the Centers for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research in their Final 2023 Transplant Center Survival Report.

The National Pancreas Foundation recognized Northside as a Clinical Center of Excellence for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. 

Northside Atlanta was awarded a three-year accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (American College of Surgeons). 

The Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation recognized the Northside Hospital Cancer Institute Blood Cancer Program as a 2024-25 Center of Excellence in the diagnosis and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes. 

Northside Hospital Cherokee earned the 2023 Mended Hearts Hospital of the Year award for the Southern Region.

In 2023, the Georgia Hospital Association Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) presented two of its prestigious Patient Safety and Quality Awards to Northside Hospital. Northside's Behavioral Health Services won second place in the Specialty/Hospital-Owned Outpatient With 100-299 Beds category for its project “Maintaining a Successful Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program Through and Beyond a Pandemic,” while Northside Duluth won third place in the Hospitals With 100-299 Beds category for its project “From Pilot to Program: Implementation of a Multimodal Analgesic Protocol for Total Joint Patients.”

The Northside Hospital Breast Care Program is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (American College of Surgeons), which recognizes centers from around the country that have achieved the highest quality breast care programs.

Northside's Breast Care Centers are designated as Breast Imaging Centers of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Northside Imaging Centers have additional ACR accreditations in Breast Ultrasound, CT, Mammography, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, PET, Stereotactic and Ultrasound.

Each of Northside’s Sleep Disorders Centers is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Northside Hospital Cancer Institute is accredited as an Integrated Network Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

Northside hospitals in Atlanta, Cherokee and Forsyth have received NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Health system Elders) designation, demonstrating our commitment and continued progress in improving quality, and enhancing the patient and family experience.

Northside Atlanta is the only Georgia provider recognized as a Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, for the hospital’s special expertise in evaluating and treating patients with hypertension.

Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Northside Atlanta, Northside Cherokee and Northside Forsyth and Pulmonary Rehab at Northside Gwinnett have achieved American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation program certification.

Each of Northside’s Laboratories is accredited by the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation of the College of American Pathologists

Northside Cherokee and Northside Duluth are among seven Georgia hospitals, 350 nationwide, named by Becker’s as the cleanest hospitals. The hospitals received 5-star cleanliness ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) national patient survey.

The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Northside Hospital has achieved national Center of Excellence awards from the major insurance managed-care companies as well as national accreditations including ones from:

All Northside hospitals have received accreditation from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission for providing quality patient care in multiple modalities, including Echocardiography, Vascular Testing, Vein Treatment and Nuclear Cardiology.