Healthcare in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale sits inside a genuinely competitive three-system healthcare market: the public Broward Health system (anchored by Broward Health Medical Center, the county's Level I trauma center), the private nonprofit Holy Cross Health, and -- about ten miles south in Hollywood -- Memorial Healthcare System, whose Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital is the region's top pediatric specialty option. Real, current 2025-2026 national and regional recognitions exist across all three.

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Broward Health Medical Center -- the County's Level I Trauma Center

Broward Health Medical Center, the flagship of the public Broward Health system located in Fort Lauderdale, received Level I trauma verification for both adults and children from the American College of Surgeons (source: Broward Health, 2022 verification announcement), and Florida's official trauma-center registry lists it as the county's only Level I facility (Broward Health North, elsewhere in the county, is designated Level II). In U.S. News & World Report's 2026 cycle, Broward Health Medical Center earned a High Performing designation for maternity care and patient safety, plus American Heart Association recognitions including a Stroke Gold Plus Award and a Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll listing (source: Broward Health newsroom, 2026).

Holy Cross Health

Holy Cross Health, Fort Lauderdale's large private nonprofit hospital, was recognized in six types of care in U.S. News & World Report's 2025-2026 Best Hospitals rankings and rated High Performing in five specific adult procedures and conditions: heart failure, hip fracture, hip replacement, knee replacement, and pacemaker implantation (source: Holy Cross Health / U.S. News). It also holds a 4-out-of-5-star CMS Overall Hospital Quality rating for the second consecutive year as of the 2026 ratings cycle, and cites an 86% patient willing-to-recommend rate.

Memorial Healthcare System and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital (Hollywood, ~10 Miles South)

Memorial Healthcare System, a large public system headquartered in Hollywood in southern Broward County, is a genuine regional option for Fort Lauderdale residents even though it sits outside city limits. Its Memorial Regional Hospital is ranked No. 4 in Florida and No. 11 in the Southeast region as a Best Regional Hospital by U.S. News, and its Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital earned rankings in six pediatric specialties for 2025-2026 -- a record for the hospital -- including the top ranking in Florida for both orthopedics and neonatology (source: PR Newswire / Memorial Healthcare System release, 2025-2026).

What Wasn't Confirmed

This research pass did not turn up a specific, current U.S. News overall numeric hospital ranking for Broward Health Medical Center the way it did for Holy Cross Health's specialty ratings or Memorial Regional's regional rank -- rather than estimate one, that gap is disclosed here. As with any system, specific insurance-network participation, wait times, and out-of-pocket costs vary by plan and provider and should be confirmed directly before relying on them for a relocation decision.

Key takeaways

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-22. Independent research; not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.