I sent a letter to the editors of US News And World Report this afternoon:

I am on the Board of a superb Boston-area teaching hospital and I run a marketing strategy firm that services a number of leading healthcare brands.

But when I have to pull a gummed ad for a brand name cholesterol drug off the US News And World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals" (July 23-30), I can't help but conclude that the rankings are anything but the public service they masquerade as.

While much of the accompanying editorial is interesting and useful, the "America's Best Hospitals" issue was clearly successful in its primary objective -- to sell a ton of healthcare advertising, which we all ultimately finance as patients.

Tom Simons
President/Creative Director
PARTNERS+simons
Boston, MA