U.S. News & World Report releases ‘best nursing homes’
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- A new U.S. News & World Report analysis identifies top-performing nursing homes for patient care.
- In Southwest Florida, 15 nursing homes in Collier and Lee counties received high-performance ratings.
- The ratings evaluate short-term rehabilitation and long-term care based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Just over a dozen nursing homes in Southwest Florida are high performing for patient care, according to the latest analysis by U.S. News & Word Report.
The ratings are based on short or long term stays, or both.
In Southwest Florida, six nursing homes in Collier County got top marks for performance in either category or both, Lee County had nine nursing homes had that distinction, according to the data.
In Florida, 132 homes are top performers in short status, 153 in long-term care, and 89 stand out in both.
California leads the U.S. with the most nursing homes as top performers in both categories, at 122, yet it also has 1,162 nursing homes statewide.
U.S. News & World Report says that on any given day, nearly 15,000 nursing homes across the country are caring for more than 1.2 million people and most are elderly.
“Choosing a nursing facility, whether for post-acute rehabilitation, such as recovering from surgery like a hip replacement, a serious injury like a fracture or managing the aftermath of a stroke, or long-term residency, is one of the most crucial health care decisions a family can make,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said in a news release.
One of every eight Americans over the age of 85 is a nursing home resident, and nearly one-third of older Americans spend time in a nursing home in their final months of life,” according to the news publication.
Most nursing homes offer short-term rehabilitation for post-acute care that often involves physical therapy after a hospitalization for surgery, a heart attack or stroke, or injury.
They also offer long-term care for individuals who can no longer live independently and need medical supervision.
U.S. News ratings for short-term stays focused on quality of care for rehabilitative services using 17 distinct quality indicators, an increase from from nine measures last year.
The rating for long-term care focused on how the homes perform on daily assistance with medical and nonmedical needs, which also is based on 17 distinct measures, an increase from eight last year.
U.S. News began publishing online ratings of nursing homes in 2009.
All quality scores for 2026 were based on publicly available data obtained from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
One exception is a measure for the rate of antipsychotic medication use, where data was obtained from the Long Term Care Community Coalition.
So what are some of the main takeaways on what makes the best nursing homes stand out?
- 20% offer more hands-on staffing time per resident per day.
- 80% offer more physical therapy per resident per day.
- 15% have a lower rate of hospitalizations for long-term residents
- 33% have a lower rate of emergency room
Here are the 6 top performing nursing homes in Collier
Top of FormBottom of FormGardens at Terracina Health & Rehabilitation
The Chateau at Moorings Park
The Glenview at Pelican Bay
Bentley Care Center
Solaris Senior Living North Naples
Solaris Healthcare Imperial
Lee County’s 9 top nursing homes
Lee Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit
Gulf Coast Medical Center Skilled Nursing Unit
The Preserve
HealthPark Care Center
The Lodge at Cypress Cove
Larsen Health Center
Renaissance at The Terraces
Ambassador Healthcare at College Park
Life Care Center of Estero
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