Hey everyone, this is So Your Parents are old producer, Lily Houston Smith.

Before we get into today's episode, I want to say something that might be a little obvious.

Rankings are weird. We all know this. Anyone who's ever looked at a best hotel or best blender list has

probably had the same thought. Okay, but according to whom? And based on what? And when you're

talking about something like a hospital or an assisted living facility, the stakes are way

higher than picking a hotel or a blender. These are places where mistakes can have real

expensive and traumatizing consequences. In today's episode, Vanessa is talking to two people

who actually do this work. They are the people who rank hospitals, nursing homes, and

assisted living centers. Now, some of you might be rankings skeptics. You might be thinking, really, aren't

these lists kind of made up? Do you raise a fair point? Rankings can look way more authoritative

than they really are, and different rating systems tend to disagree with each other. But also, when

it comes to a big decision, like where do I put my mom when she can't live by herself

anymore, you have to start somewhere.

And US News, where our guests today work, has a long history of journalists working year-round

to put lists like this together.

I found this conversation really helpful in understanding not just what goes into making the lists, but how to actually read them.

So the conversation you're about to hear, it's not just about outsourcing your judgment to a ranking.

It's about learning how to use rankings as a tool.

They're imperfect, but sometimes really, really useful when you're trying to make a decision that, honestly, no one ever feels fully prepared to make.

Welcome back, everybody, to So Your Parents Are Old, the podcast where we talk about

taking care of you so you can take care of other people.

So today, we are going to talk to two amazing

...