Forbes announced Wednesday that MultiCare has been included on their first “America’s Best Employers By State” list – ranking in the top third of 36 Washington-based organizations across all sectors of industry.

MultiCare was the only South Sound employer on the list and is one of five health care organizations selected from this state. It also ranked higher than several nationally-known tech and retail brands.

“We are thrilled to see this feedback from our team members and our community,” says Kevin Dull, senior vice president and chief human potential officer for MultiCare. “We see this as a positive validation of the work we are doing to become the Pacific Northwest’s highest value system of health, and we will keep working every day to build on this momentum.”

According to Forbes, the rankings are based on an independent survey from a vast sample of more than 80,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 500 people in their U.S. operations. The surveys were administered in a series of anonymous online panels and provide a representative sample of the U.S. workforce. Employees rated their willingness to recommend their own employers to friends and family and participants were also prompted to evaluate other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively.

The complete list is available at forbes.com.