CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospitals has ranked best in the Midwest and #5 in the country in U.S.News & World Report’s first stand-alone “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” issue which features a detailed ranking of the finest pediatric facilities in the United States. The exclusive data will be published in the magazine’s September 3 issue, on newsstands Monday, August 27, and is available online today at health.usnews.com/pediatrics.
While, in the past, pediatric hospitals have been ranked based on reputation alone in the magazine's annual America’s Best Hospitals issue, this expanded children's hospital ranking is based not only on reputation, but also on data and statistics about hospital performance and quality of care.
“We are very pleased and proud to be consistently ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the country,” said Fred C. Rothstein, MD, president & CEO of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “The changes in methodology this year, and the new stand-alone issue make this honor even more prestigious, and we know ranking among the top five is truly a testament to the compassionate care and dedication of the talented staff at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.”
To be eligible for this year’s rankings, a medical facility had to be classified by the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) as a freestanding children’s hospital or as a children’s “hospital within a hospital” – a large, multidisciplinary pediatric service within a medical center. Of the 122 children’s hospitals that met this standard as of March 2007, 113 responded to a U.S. News survey asking for data and statistics on a variety of procedures such as the number of bone marrow transplants and difficult heart operations performed. Thirty of these facilities made the cut as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.”
“Since launching our annual rankings of hospitals in 1990, the demand for facilities dedicated to the unique needs of children has changed dramatically,” said Avery Comarow, a senior writer with U.S.News & World Report who has been editor of the “America’s Best Hospitals” annual rankings since their inception. “Improving the usefulness and relevance of the rankings in this important specialty has been a longstanding goal of the magazine. We hope that parents and caregivers will find this special report helpful when seeking out medical attention for their child.”
While U.S. News’s previous pediatric hospital rankings were based on reputation alone, this expanded version is based on a new and improved methodology, which weighed a three-part mix of reputation, death rate, and such care-related factors as volume, nursing care, advanced technology, and recognition by outside organizations. A detailed description of the methodology can be found online at health.usnews.com/pediatrics.