U.S. News and World Report has once again ranked St. Louis Children's Hospital-Washington University School of Medicine among the nation's best in its annual "Best Children's Hospitals" survey.
For the ninth consecutive year, SLCH appears in every category surveyed. SLCH/WUSM is the only St. Louis hospital to be ranked in all 10 specialties. The complete listing is below:
Pulmonology (#8)
Orthopedics (#11)
Neurology & Neurosurgery (#12)
Urology (#13)
Gastroenterology & GI Surgery (#14)
Neonatology (#14)
Nephrology (#20)
Diabetes & Endocrinology (#20)
Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#23)
Cancer (#26)
Of 184 pediatric hospitals surveyed nationwide, only 21 ranked in all 10 specialties.
Surveyors measured hospitals in three categories:
- Resources - which refer to staffing, technology and specialty services.
- Delivery of healthcare - which includes infection prevention methods, best practices and overall reputation.
- Clinical outcomes - such as patient survival, infection rates and complications.
Last year, the survey also added dozens of new measures of best practices and infection control, assigning more weight to these categories and reducing weight assigned to hospital reputation.
"We strive to consistently provide the best care for children and adolescents in our region," says Joan Magruder, hospital president. "These rankings confirm that we are accomplishing that goal. In the nine year history of the Best Children's Hospital List, we're proud that St. Louis Children's Hospital has ranked in every category, every year."
St. Louis Children's Hospital is the teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, and many of the cutting-edge medical innovations that attract families to the hospital arise from that academic partnership.
"We endeavor to provide patients not just the very best medicine has to offer, but we push the boundaries to seek the next opportunity, take advantage of the next innovation and find the next cure," says Alan Schwartz, PhD, MD, head of the department of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine.
U.S. News introduced the Best Children's Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of sick children find the best medical care available. The rankings open the door to an array of detailed information about each hospital's performance.
For a full listing of hospital rankings and methodology, visit http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings.
