LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only 10 children's hospitals in the nation -- and the only pediatric medical center on the West Coast -- ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties and named to the national "Honor Roll" of children's hospitals in the United States in the current U.S. News & World Report rankings, available online at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals. The article, "America's Best Children's Hospitals," will be published in the August issue of the magazine, which will be available on newsstands July 21, 2009.
The national "Honor Roll" of children's hospitals includes: The Children's Hospital (Denver), Children's Hospital Boston, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Children's Medical Center (Dallas), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Baltimore), New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital-Washington University and Texas Children's Hospital (Houston).
"While we are pleased that we continue to be recognized as one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation, our priority will continue to be providing the very best medical and surgical care to the sickest, most seriously ill children, teaching the next generation of pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and pediatric nurses and conducting the research that will lead to new treatments and cures for diseases and conditions that afflict our children, such as cancer, congenital heart defects, diabetes, sickle cell disease, immune deficiencies, respiratory disorders and more," said Childrens Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Richard D. Cordova, FACHE. "We understand the enormous responsibility we have to the children and families we serve and to children everywhere."
The methodology for the 2009 rankings is a blend of reputation, clinical outcomes and care-related measures, like nursing, advanced technology, credentialing and other factors. The children's hospitals were evaluated on a combination of opinions from pediatric specialists -- the hospitals these specialists would recommend for the sickest children -- along with data collected from a 65-page survey. Most of the hospitals considered for these rankings were NACHRI members.
U.S. News & World Report magazine began its ranking of children's hospitals in 1990. This is the first year the magazine has ranked children's hospitals in 10 specialty areas, with 56 children's hospitals throughout the country represented in the new rankings.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles ranked among the Top 30 children's hospitals in the nation in all 10 specialties (in alphabetical order): Cancer (8), Diabetes & Endocrine Disorders (5), Digestive Disorders (11), Heart & Heart Surgery (10), Kidney Disorders (9), Neonatal Care (17), Neurology & Neurosurgery (15), Orthopedics (7), Respiratory Disorders (12) and Urology (24).
U.S. News & World Report invited 160 hospitals to complete its 65-page survey to be considered for ranking; 98 hospitals chose to do so. The survey was created and administered by RTI International.
Ranking-eligible pediatric facilities were largely drawn from two membership categories of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI): Freestanding children's hospitals and "hospitals within a hospital," large, multidisciplinary pediatric departments within a comprehensive medical center. Several non-NACHRI members were added because of known pediatric expertise or at the recommendation of experts.
Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego also were ranked in six or more specialties.
Complete rankings of children's hospitals by specialties, and more information about methodology, are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles treats 62,000 patients a year in its Emergency Department. It admits more than 11,000 children a year to the hospital, 50-percent children under four years of age. There are about 287,000 visits a year to its 29 outpatient clinics; nearly 2,800 visits at community sites through its Division of Adolescent Medicine. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is able to offer the optimum in multidisciplinary care, with more than 100 pediatric subspecialty services.
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