CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia University Hospitals is the highest-ranked regional hospital in the state, according to a report released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

The national magazine recognized WVU Hospitals as high performing in 12 medical specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.

"It's always great to be recognized, but this ranking is especially gratifying because it's based on real numbers," Bruce McClymonds, president and CEO of WVU Hospitals, said in a news release. "The rankings represent positive outcomes for our patients and the extraordinary care provided here by our physicians, nurses and other health professionals."

WVU Hospitals is a nonprofit hospital based in Morgantown. Nearly 30,000 patients visited WVU Hospitals' Ruby Memorial last year, according to U.S. News.

WVU Hospitals is planning to add a 10-story patient care tower at Ruby Memorial. The parent of Mon General Hospital said Monday it is dropping its challenge to a $248 million expansion at WVU Hospitals after WVU Hospitals agreed to reduce the planned number of beds in the new patient tower from 139 to 114.

U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals 2012-13" also recognized Charleston Area Medical Center as the second-highest-ranked hospital in the state and St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington as the third.

The report, which includes rankings of more than 720 of the nation's nearly 5,000 hospitals, will be published in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2012-13 guidebook, which goes on sale in August. This year's best-hospitals list is the first year the publication has ranked hospitals within most states, according to a news release.