For the third consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report recognized EvergreenHealth as one of the top health care organizations in the region for its exceptional clinical care. The publication’s 2015-16 rankings name the Kirkland-based health system — which has a primary care center in Redmond — the No. 3 hospital in the Seattle metro area and No. 4 hospital in Washington state.

“We do not set out to earn these types of recognitions, rather our focus is always on our patients and providing the very best care,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “Using national best practices and our hallmark EvergreenHealth experience, we strive to create an environment that safeguards the health and well-being of those who trust us with their care. And then we must ask ourselves, ‘how do we get even better?’ so that we can keep earning that trust through exceptional service and the safest, highest quality care.”

U.S. News & World Report recognizes hospitals that excel in providing the best care for the most serious or complicated medical conditions and procedures. In addition to the Best Regional Hospitals list, U.S. News acknowledged EvergreenHealth for high performance in gastroenterology and GI surgery, as well for performance in the procedural areas of hip replacement, knee replacement and heart failure.

Its annual “Best Hospitals” rankings, now in its 26th year, help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition or added risk because of other health problems or age.

“Patients deserve high-quality information on hospitals,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “We strive to provide them with the most comprehensive data available so they can make more informed decisions together with their doctor about where to undergo treatment.”