Of the 191 pediatric hospitals surveyed for this year's list, 84 were ranked among the top 50 in at least one specialty. Ten of those hospitals earned a place on The Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll by accumulating points for being highly ranked in many specialties.
The top five of those 10 hospitals include, in order: Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (tie), Texas Children’s Hospital (tie) and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The remaining five are Children’s National Medical Center, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“We are pleased and proud to be among the best again,” said Michael Fisher, president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s. “I’m grateful to our employees and to our patients and families that put their trust in us. Without them, this recognition would not be possible.”
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According to U.S. News, the mission of the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings is to identify hospitals that provide the highest quality care for children with the most serious or complicated medical conditions.
Each of the 191 facilities surveyed is either a freestanding pediatric hospital, such as Cincinnati Children’s, or a “hospital within a hospital” – a large multidisciplinary pediatric department within a major medical center.
Cincinnati Children’s continues to rank at the top spot of all Ohio children’s hospitals. The only other Ohio pediatric hospital to earn a spot on U.S. News’ “honor roll” was Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which ranked No. 7.
The methodology for the rankings reflects four categories:
• Clinical outcomes, such as patient survival, infection rates and complications
• Hospital resources, the level and quality of which are directly related to patient care, such as staffing, technology and special services
• Delivery of healthcare, such as programs that prevent infections and adherence to best practices
• Expert opinion, reputation among pediatric specialists
Cincinnati Children’s ranks among the top five pediatric hospitals in nine of 10 specialties. It improved in two areas compared to 2018 rankings, rising from eighth to sixth in cardiac care and from fifth to fourth in neonatology.
Cincinnati Children’s held steady in its No. 4 ranking in orthopedics and pulmonology and its No. 3 ranking for endocrinology.
It dropped in five areas, going from No. 1 to No. 6 in cancer care, from No. 1 to No. 3 in gastroenterology/GI surgery care and from No. 2 to No. 3 in nephrology. It also dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in both neurology and urology
Cincinnati Children’s is “very proud” of its continued ranking as one of the top three pediatric hospitals in the country, according to spokesman Jim Feuer.
“U.S. News & World Report makes annual adjustments to its calculations across dozens of measures to arrive at its rankings,” Feuer said. “Even small changes in individual measures — by us or other hospitals — can shift the results.
“Regardless of ranking, we continually strive to achieve our mission of being the leader in improving child health, and we will continue to provide the highest level of care for our patients, as reflected in this recognition of our organization’s excellence.”
The rankings are set to be published in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2020” guidebook, which will be available for purchase in September.
MORE: Check out the full list of children’s hospital rankings
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