What the 2000 ranking actually measured
The World Health Report 2000's ranking combined overall health level, health system responsiveness, fairness of financing, and distribution across the population into a composite score. Colombia scored #22 of 191 countries — ahead of the US (#37) and Canada (#30) — and #1 among Western Hemisphere countries.
Why the methodology proved controversial
Critics raised concerns about how responsiveness and fairness were measured and weighted, and the WHO has not attempted a comparable country-by-country ranking since. This is a genuine limitation, not something to gloss over.
Why the underlying claim still holds up reasonably well today
Independent of the 2000 ranking specifically, Colombia's more recent, verifiable indicators — 6 JCI-accredited hospitals, a Mayo Clinic Care Network affiliation, comparable infection-rate data at accredited facilities — support a similar conclusion through current data, not just a 25-year-old snapshot. See colombiamedical.co for the current accreditation picture.
The Takeaway
Cite the WHO ranking as a historical data point with its year attached, always — and lean on the more recent, independently verifiable accreditation data for a current picture.