Forbes this month released its rankings of "America's Best Large Employers" and "America's Best Midsize Employers" for 2021.

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About the rankings

For the rankings, Forbes worked with statistics firm Statista to cull data from a survey of 50,000 U.S. employees. In the survey, respondents were asked to rate on a scale from zero to 10 how likely they were to recommend their employers to others. The survey also asked employees to recommend companies other than their own.

Forbes used the survey responses to compile its final "Best Large Employers" and "Best Midsize Employers" lists, which feature the 500 companies in each category that received the most recommendations. The lists include health care employers across several categories, including "health care and social," "drugs and biotechnology," "health care equipment and services," and "insurance."

The best large health care employers

Twenty-five organizations—including 19 Advisory Board members—made the list of large "health care and social" employers, including:

1. Mayo Clinic* (Rochester, Minnesota);
2. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center* (Columbus, Ohio);
3. Wake Forest Baptist Health* (Winston-Salem, North Carolina);
4. MD Anderson Cancer Center* (Houston);
5. ChristianaCare (Wilmington, Delaware);
6. Boston Children's Hospital (Boston);
7. UK HealthCare* (Lexington, Kentucky);
8. Cincinnati Children's (Cincinnati);
9. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia* (Philadelphia);
10. Massachusetts General Hospital* (Boston);
11. Johns Hopkins Medicine* (Baltimore);
12. University of Maryland Medical System* (Baltimore);
13. Cleveland Clinic* (Cleveland);
14. Penn Medicine* (Philadlephia);
15. The University of Kansas Health System* (Kansas City, Kansas);
16. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta* (Atlanta);
17. Community Health Network* (Indianapolis);
18. Duke University Health System* (Durham, North Carolina);
19. HealthPartners (Bloomington, Minnesota);
20. Texas Children's Hospital (Houston);
21. NorthShore University HealthSystem* (Evanston, Illinois);
22. Baptist Health* (Louisville, Kentucky);
23. United Health Services* (Binghamton, New York);
24. WVU Medicine West Virginia University Health System* (Morgantown, West Virginia); and
25. Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, Oklahoma).

*Denotes Advisory Board member

In addition, 21 drug and biotech companies, 11 health care equipment and service companies, and 22 insurers made the best large employer list.

In total, 25 Advisory Board members were recognized across the categories:

1. Florida Blue* (Jacksonville, Florida);
2. Johnson & Johnson* (New Brunswick, New Jersey);
3. Merck & Co.* (Kenilworth, New Jersey);
4. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals* (Tarrytown, New York);
5. AstraZeneca* (Cambridge, United Kingdom);
6. Philips* (Amsterdam, Netherlands);
7. AbbVie* (Chicago);
8. Boston Scientific* (Marlborough, Massachusetts);
9. Lilly* (Indianapolis);
10. Roche Holding* (Basel, Switzerland);
11. Pfizer* (New York);
12. Stryker* (Kalamazoo, Michigan);
13. Bristol Myers Squibb* (Lawrence Township, New Jersey);
14. Sanofi* (Paris, France);
15. Cigna* (Bloomfield, Connecticut);
16. Edwards Lifescience* (Irvine, California);
17. Abbott Laboratories* (Abbott Park, Illinois);
18. Boehringer Ingelheim* (Ridgefield, Connecticut);
19. UnitedHealth Group* (Minnetonka, Minnesota);
20. Quest Diagnostics* (Secaucus, New Jersey);
21. Novartis* (Basel, Switzerland);
22. Medline Industries* (Northfield, Illinois);
23. Takeda Pharmaceutical* (Tokyo, Japan); and
24. Hill-Rom Holdings* (Chicago). and
25. Bayer* (Leverkusen, Germany).

*Denotes Advisory Board member

According to Forbes, the University of Alabama, Birmingham ranked No. 1 on the "Best Large Employers" list.

The best midsize health care employers

Fifteen health care organizations—including five Advisory Board members—made the list of midsize "health care and social" employers, including:

1. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (Milwaukee);
2. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago* (Chicago);
3. AARP (Washington, D.C.);
4. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center* (Dallas);
5. Truman Medical Centers* (Kansas City, Missouri);
6. Resources for Human Development (Philadelphia);
7. BluePearl Veterinary (Tampa, Florida);
8. Agnesian Healthcare (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin);
9. Evangelical Community Hospital* (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania);
10. Self Regional Healthcare (Greenwood, South Carolina);
11. American Heart Association (Dallas);
12. Rush University Medical Center* (Chicago);
13. 1Life Healthcare) (San Francisco);
14. AHRC New York City (New York); and
15. Athena Health Care System (Farmington, Connecticut).

*Denotes Advisory Board member

In addition, 10 drug and biotech companies, 29 health care equipment and service companies, and 30 insurers made the best midsize employer list.

In total, 20 Advisory Board members were recognized across the categories:

1. Regence BlueShield* (Portland, Oregon);
2. Ortho Clinical Diagnostics* (Raritan, New Jersey);
3. Exact Sciences* (Madison, Wisconsin);
4. CareCentrix* (Tampa, Florida);
5. Varian Medical Systems* (Palo Alto, California);
6. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina* (Durham, North Carolina);
7. Medical Mutual of Ohio* (Cleveland);
8. Cambia Health Solutions* (Portland, Oregon);
9. Hologic* (Marlborough, Massachusetts);
10. Alexion Pharmaceuticals* (Boston);
11. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota* (Eagan, Minnesota);
12. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield* (Des Moines, Iowa);
13. HealthNow New York* (Buffalo, New York);
14. Community Care Physicians* (Latham, New York);
15. Reid Health* (Richmond, Indiana);
16. Beacon Health Options* (Boston);
17. Terumo* (Tokyo, Japan);
18. Integra LifeSciences* (Plainsboro Township, New Jersey);
19. Teladoc Health* (Purchase, New York); and
20. ScribeAmerica* (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).

*Denotes Advisory Board member

According to Forbes, Fair Isaac—based in San Jose, California—ranked No. 1 on the "Best Midsize employers" list (Forbes, "America's Best Large Employers," 2/9; Forbes, "America's Best Midsized Employers," 2/9; Stoller, Forbes, 2/9).