St. Cloud Hospital has been recognized as one of the country's top rated hospitals for heart surgery.

Consumer Reports released some heart care tips Thursday, along with a list of what it determined to be the best hospitals for two types of heart surgery: coronary artery bypass surgery, and aortic valve replacement surgery.

Coronary artery bypass surgery is done when an artery in your heart gets blocked. It reduces the risk for heart attack by creating another pathway for blood to travel, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Aortic valve replacement surgery is done when a heart valve isn't working properly. It helps prevent heart attack and heart failure, according to Mayo.

Consumer reports lists the top hospitals by region. And out of the 12 top heart surgery hospitals in the Midwest, St. Cloud's is the only one in Minnesota.

Of the 72 hospitals recognized throughout the U.S., it's just one of 17 that was rated "better than expected" for both surgeries.

How hospitals were rated

Consumer Reports says in order to even be considered for this list – or any similar lists – hospitals must submit specific data.

From there, Consumer Reports looks at things like patient survival, how many have complications, surgical techniques and drugs used.

According to the St. Cloud Times, about 60 percent of hospitals around the U.S. participated and sent in data.

Several other hospitals in Minnesota performed well but didn't make the list due to incomplete data or not having "better than expected" scores.

Hennepin County Medical Center, Fairview Southdale Hospital and North Memorial Medical Center in the Twin Cities all received "as expected" ratings.

The Times notes Mayo Clinic missed the deadline and did not participate.

You can search for hospitals and see their ratings here.