Hospitals in Venice, Florence and Rome

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In Case of Emergency
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List of doctors and hospitsls
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Speaking for Florence: If you are in need call an ambulance at 118. They will probably route the ambulance to the nearest emergency room that they consider adequate to your need. The worst cases in Florence are usually routed to Careggi, that is the university hospital and the best in the city. My father had a quintuple cardiac bypass performed there without even stopping the heart, and recovered in ten days or so. The general ambience of the hospital is nothing to write home about but there is where the better physicians are. Santa Maria Nuova in the very center - close to the Duomo - is not bad at all, if you can live with the idea of being treated in an hospital built in 13th century. I would avoid the suburban hospitals like San Giovanni di Dio/Torregalli and Ponte a Niccheri.

All these hospitals are public. There are a few private clinics; if memory does not fail me, the only one working in cardiosurgery is Villa Maria Beatrice. But generally talking private clinics in Florence are small and their staff is relatively small. They are more luxurious than public hospitals but the care is better at hospitals.

Are you going there to visit those cities or to have heart surgery?

If you are not going specifically for heart surgery, I presume you are asking where to go in case of emergency if you have a heart attack.

If that is the case, they will take you to the closest hospital emergency and maybe transfer you later to somewhere else as necessary. Also, consider that in Italy hospitals tend to be fewer than in the US, but are very large. The largest for example is Bologna's University Hospital-Sant'Orsola. It has almost 1600 beds, a hospital size that is unheard of in most of the US. For example the absolute largest in California is Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, which has over 800. The largest in Northern California is Stanford University Hospital, with 600+ licensed beds.

In Florence, if you are in the city center, there is a high chance that an ambulance will take you to Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, because it's the only one in the historical center. It's an old hospital that first opened 727 years ago in 1288. The best hospital in Florence is probably the Careggi Hospital of the University of Florence, which is also huge (over 1400 beds).

In Rome there are more hospitals. The Gemelli Hospital and the Policlinico Tor Vergata University hospital are some of the best in the country. The first is a big medical center of about 1500 beds, the latter is a "smaller" 400 bed facility.

In Venice there is only one hospital in the historical city center where you will be likely staying. That is the San Giovanni and Paolo, a 400+ bed facility. If you have a heart attack, you will likely be taken there, I doubt they'll take you farther in the mainland.

Many Thanks to the wonderful people who responded to request for hospital information.

Sincerely,

Camilla and Clive Endive

I have to agree with the recommendation for Rome's Gemelli hospital. My father has heart problems, they've acted up on him before whilst in Rome and Gemelli took excellent care of him. He's been a patient of theirs for other reasons as well and is always very pleased with them. He's also still alive, so I tend to trust his opinion on that one! I've been to the Policlinico myself (again in Rome), not for heart issues, but my local friends and relatives with such maladies recommend That one to me first.

I hope you have the most travel/hospital/evac insurance you can get!