Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has once again earned the distinction of being named among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals in rankings released today.
Children’s Hospital achieved a maximum 10 out of 10 pediatric specialty programs to be nationally ranked, with half of those pediatric specialties being among the top 20 in the country. This is the 12th consecutive year the hospital has made the list.
“We are proud to be honored again this year by U.S. News & World Report for the services we provide the children and families coming to us from across Tennessee and many other states. More importantly, through the support of our community, we can offer truly world class care for our most vulnerable patients,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “I want to express my gratitude to everyone with Children’s Hospital and throughout our health system who helps us fulfill this vital mission.”
The 2018-2019 Best Children’s Hospitals report ranks the nation’s top 50 pediatric centers in 10 specialties. Scores are calculated using clinical outcomes, such as patient survival, infection rates and complications; hospital resources directly related to patient care, such as staffing, technology and special services; delivery of health care, including programs that prevent infections and adhere to best practices; and results from reputational surveys of board-certified pediatric specialists.
Of the 189 hospitals surveyed, 89 ranked among the top 50 in at least one specialty. Children’s Hospital has ranked every year since the pediatric rankings’ inception in 2007.
“It is a tremendous achievement and honor to once again be recognized as one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals in all 10 pediatric specialties,” said Luke Gregory, Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Hospital. “The rankings are a true testament to the commitment and dedication put forth by our doctors, nurses and staff who strive to provide the very best quality and compassionate care to the 1,700 children who enter our hospital and clinics daily. I want to congratulate everyone for their hard work.”
Pediatric urology at Children’s Hospital continues as one of the nation’s premier programs, landing at No. 6, and has ranked every year in the top 10 since 2009, when U.S. News began including the specialty in its rankings.
“I am proud that pediatric urology continues to earn the distinction as an elite, destination program. As a team, we take pride in being leaders of excellence in innovative, quality and compassionate care, and we are blessed to care for children and families from all over the country,” said John W. Brock III, MD, director of Pediatric Urology, Surgeon-in-Chief and Monroe Carell Jr. Professor. “Our successes are a direct reflection of teamwork from every person in both our inpatient and outpatient care areas. We are surrounded by people committed to doing their best for patients every step of the way.
“As a hospital we continue to achieve some of the highest rankings in our history. We are delivering tremendous care to children. Our accomplishments in our rankings are also made possible by the Performance, Management and Improvement team, led by Autumne Bailey and Lauran Sevier. They invest significant time and effort to ensure data integrity and to complete the U.S. News survey. Without their hard work we could never do this,” Brock said.
Advancing in the rankings, Cancer improved from 16th to 14th, along with Pulmonology, which went from 13th to 10th. Other specialties ranked this year are: Orthopaedics (16th); Neonatology (18th); Gastroenterology & GI surgery (24th); Neurology & Neurosurgery (30th); Diabetes & Endocrinology (31st); Nephrology (38th); Cardiology & Heart Surgery (42nd).
“I am thrilled that we continue to be distinguished as a national leader in specialized pediatric health care,” said Steven Webber, MBChB, MRCP, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrician-in-Chief and James C. Overall Professor. “People — staff, faculty, trainees — lie at the heart of this achievement and are the driving force behind our continued successes in providing excellent care for children from Tennessee, the region and across the country.”
In Pulmonology, the Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine Team has seen steady gains over several years, moving up in the rankings. The climb to No. 10 is reflective of the unique and innovative care and research as well as patients’ access to nationally recognized experts in common and complex breathing problems in children.
“I am incredibly grateful for the many quality improvement efforts within our group to achieve this ranking and ultimately to provide the highest level of care for the patients we serve,” said Paul Moore, MD, director of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine.
Children’s Hospital is building a four-floor, 160,000 sq. ft. expansion, estimated to open mid-year 2019, to provide quality and compassionate care for even more children. Once completed, the expansion, supported by the Growing to New Heights Campaign, will bring the hospital’s total footprint to more than 1 million square feet.
“Beginning long before the opening of our freestanding hospital in 2004, anchoring in our present outreach efforts across our region, and looking forward to our forthcoming four-floor expansion, we steadfastly embrace a culture of program development to meet the needs of all children and families,” said Meg Rush, MD, Chief of Staff and Executive Medical Director of Children’s Hospital. “It is a true honor to see our commitment to excellence again recognized for all 10 specialties in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Thank you and congratulations to all of our teams.”
This year’s full rankings, which include information infection rates, adequacy of staff, procedure volumes and more from the 189 hospitals, are available online at health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings.
