Forbes magazine has chosen Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital as one of only 11 hospitals in Florida – out of more than 350 hospitals statewide – to earn its prestigious five-star rating

Twenty-nine Florida hospitals were awarded a four-star ranking or above this month in Forbes Top Hospitals 2026, with Advent Health hospitals dominating the list.

But Vero’s hospital was the only Treasure Coast facility – and the only one of the five hospitals in the Cleveland Clinic Florida system – to receive either a five- or four-star rating.

Forbes says it enlisted a team of “healthcare measurement experts” including physicians, scientists, health policy researchers, and patient advocates to evaluate publicly available data produced on the hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or CMS. Healthcare data analytics firm Inovalon was also brought in to make sure the results for the 5,400 hospitals in the mix were objective.

Dr. Richard Rothman, Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital vice president and chief medical officer, said of the listing, “Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital is rapidly becoming a destination site for advanced healthcare.

“Patients trust us for accurate diagnoses of complex conditions, intricate surgeries, and leading-edge heart and stroke care, among many other specialized services ranging from complex neurology to some of the most advanced cancer treatment options in the region.”

“National recognition of our quality and innovation affirms what we strive for every day – improving lives. This acknowledgment is a testament to the dedication of our medical staff and caregivers, who bring our mission to life through compassionate care and clinical excellence.”

Cleveland Clinic spokesperson Raquel Gonzalez Rivas said it’s a bit early to tell what benefits or attention the national five-star rating may bring to Indian River Hospital as it’s a relatively new Forbes program.

While the accolade might not bring patients into Vero from outside the Treasure Coast area, it could help Rothman’s ongoing recruiting efforts to staff the hospital with the best physicians, nurses and technicians.

Forbes Top Hospitals is a new, revamped configuration of what used to be called Forbes Overall Hospital Quality Ratings.

Roughly 2,500 hospitals met all of Forbes’ criteria to be given a star ranking, with 253 hospitals riding to the top of the pack nationally with five stars, and 509 hospitals getting four stars.

“Central to the methodology is its emphasis on clinical patient outcomes (such as rates of mortality, survival, infection and readmissions). These measures were given the most weight and, therefore, had the most influence on each hospital’s overall rating,” Forbes said in a Dec. 4 report.

“Additionally, these outcomes were statistically adjusted for social drivers of health (SDOH) – such as socioeconomics and access to medical services – because SDOH have been shown to impact outcomes. By adjusting for these factors in the communities surrounding each hospital, our ratings were designed to provide a more level comparison of each hospital’s quality, despite differences among hospitals’ locations and patient populations,” the magazine said.

Cleveland Clinic Foundation took over operation of the county’s long-standing community hospital in 2019 after an exhaustive selection process by the Indian River County Hospital District, which still owns the land and hospital buildings, pursuant to a 75-year lease with Cleveland Clinic.

With the addition of its Vero Beach-based Hospital at Home headquarters, Cleveland Clinic is now the largest employer in Indian River County with more than 2,500 employees.