Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Georgia tops list of most beautiful hospitals in US

A Georgia health center that was rebuilt after a tornado destroyed it is No. 1 on a list of the most beautiful hospitals in the United States.

Soliant Health selected Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, (pictured) as its top choice based on votes from hospital staff, patients and supporters. Soliant Health is a specialty healthcare staffing provider and has sponsored the contest over the past seven years. 

The hospital won the distinction with some 95,426 votes, the most ever received by a single hospital, according to the company's announcement. The original Sumter Regional Hospital was destroyed when an F3-category tornado ravaged the town of Americus in 2007. Suffering massive damage, for four years the hospital functioned out of tents donated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Boy Scouts, and was then moved into modular buildings until hospital services were eventually housed in a 71,000 square-foot interim facility with 76 beds.

A new hospital, what is now called the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, was completed in 2011. It's a 183,000 square-foot, energy efficient, "green" facility with an eco-friendly rooftop garden, natural lighting, all-private patient rooms and scores that exceed national standards on quietness and cleanliness, according to a Soliant Health statement.

"Phoebe Sumter demonstrated just how much a group of motivated people with a common goal can rebuild a hospital from the ground up, a state-of-the-art one at that, and earn a national distinction despite a catastrophic event that almost ended its legacy," David Alexander, president of Soliant Health, said in the statement.

The other hospitals on the top 10 list include:

2. Homestead Hospital in Homestead, Florida

3. Forest Park Medical Center in San Antonio

4. Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, Virginia

5. HealthPark Medical Center in Ft. Myers, Florida

6. St. Anthony Regional Hospital & Nursing Home in Carroll, Iowa

7. Forest Park Medical Center in Southlake, Texas

8. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst, Illinois

9. Doctors Memorial Hospital in Bonifay, Florida

10. Mercy Health West Hospital in Cincinnati

To keep up with state-of the-the-art design, some hospitals have undergone extensive renovations and expansions. But one study recently found that new facilities don't make a difference when it comes to patient satisfaction scores rating hospital care.

To learn more:
- check out the complete list
- here's the announcement