Fort Myers has been named the best place to retire in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. The city ranked first out of 125 places to retire. U.S. News and World Report gave Fort Myers an overall score of 7.6, with a 6.6 score for housing affordability and 5.9 for healthcare.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL...
Three Southwest Florida hospitals have received top scores in the newest hospital rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
Lee Memorial Hospital in Lee County and NCH Baker Hospital Downtown in Collier County are jointly ranked 14 among “best hospitals” in Florida, according to the news magazine that has been ranking hospitals for 30 years.
Gulf Coast Medical Center in Lee is ranked 21 in Florida out of 40 hospitals ranked, data shows. Lee Memorial and Gulf Coast are owned by the publicly operated Lee Health system.
The three hospitals also earned “high performing” status in cardiac care and for their care in several other conditions where they were among the top 10% of hospitals for patient outcomes.
“We are honored that Lee Health’s hospitals are recognized by U.S. News & World Report among the best hospitals in the state,” Scott Kashman, chief officer of hospital operations for Lee Health, said in a statement. “These rankings show that Southwest Florida residents and visitors can remain confident they are receiving the best possible care when they come through our doors.”
U.S. News is respected as a leading expert in quality rankings, Astor said.
“Best hospitals have demonstrated expertise in treating some of the most challenging patients and the professionals at NCH are always focusing on quality and innovations that will produce optima health and well-being for our patients and our community,” Astor said.
Lee Memorial in Fort Myers is high performing in heart bypass surgery, heart failure treatment, for care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer treatment, and in both hip and knee replacement surgery, the data shows.
Gulf Coast hospital is high performing in heart failure treatment, caring for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery and knee replacement surgery.
NCH Baker hospital is high performing in heart bypass surgery, heart failure treatment, caring for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, and both hip and knee replacement surgery.
In Florida, the top five hospitals are AdventHealth in Orlando, University of Florida Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, and Cleveland Clinic in Weston.
U.S. News conducts the analysis to help patients find sources of skilled inpatient care. Still, patients are advised to do their own research and speak with their physicians and consider insurance coverage.
The five top hospitals nationally are Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland; and New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York.