Parents often want to bring their sick children to the best doctors and hospitals with the best facilities and services. Here is a guide to the best children’s hospitals, according to the annual U.S. news best children’s hospitals rankings. The rankings evaluate the specialties in these best children’s hospitals, from cancer to orthopedics, and their performance in three specific areas: clinical outcomes, efficiency of care, and care-related resources.
Best Children’s Hospitals
No. 1 Boston Children’s Hospital
The Boston Children’s Hospital has published thousands of research papers that cover many areas of child care such as developmental delays, genetic abnormalities, cancer and more. Aside from spending close to $30M for research annually, the hospital is also proud of its high survival rates (>85%) for difficult heart surgeries and high success rates in the fields of heart surgery, organ transplant and gene therapy.
Boston Children’s Hospital is recognized for giving the highest level of patient care, Patients do not have to wait long in the ER to receive care. Children who are born prematurely are tracked for developmental delays.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Diabetes & Endocrinology; Cancer; Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Nephrology; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Urology; Orthopedics |
No. 2 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is the leading children’s institute for cancer research. It has developed a successful treatment for leukemia, lymphoma and neuroblastoma. Kids with these serious conditions are treated by targeted therapy, which uses a drug that inhibits a protein linked to a genetic abnormality. Unlike chemotherapy, which kills both cancer and healthy cells, targeted therapy is able to target only on abnormal cells and spares healthy tissues. Aside from this, another major accomplishment of the hospital is its development of spina bifida surgery, which is performed before the birth of the baby.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Neonatology; Pulmonology; Cancer; Diabetes & Endocrinology; Neurology & Neurosurgery |
No. 3 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
One of the best treatments offered by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is for heart failure in children, which uses the L-VAD (RotaFlow Left Ventricular Assist Device), a pump that is surgically inserted to allow a failing heart to rest while it heals. The hospital also offers music therapy and other services as part of its holistic therapy. At present, the institute’s researchers are leading a multicenter study on the prevention of children’s migraines. Its next project is a visitation center for children and their pets.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Nephrology; Pulmonology; Cancer; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Neonatology |
No. 4 Texas Children’s Hospital
Doctors at the Texas Children’s Hospital use laser surgery guided by MRI to treat brain lesions, which cause seizures in children. Compared to more invasive types of brain surgery, laser treatments shorten patients’ stay in the hospital and allow them to go home the next day.
The hospital is also honored of having the world’s only research center for children lymphoma. Another interesting service offered by the institute is to link cancer patients with musicians who can help them create their own recordings.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Neonatology; Cancer; Nephrology ; Pulmonology |
No. 5 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is a nonprofit hospital that has been considered the best hospital of its kind in the West Coast. It is considered as a premier teaching hospital, being affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
CHLA has the Saban Research Institute, which conducts studies to improve pediatric health care. It also has a Trauma Center, which is accredited by the American College of Surgeons. The hospital provides over 104,000 kids with health care and spends over $125M for kids and their families each year.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Orthopedics; Cancer; Neonatology |
No. 6 Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
Research conducted at the Children’s Hospital Colorado has led to the development of a pill that treats the genetic mutation involved in cystic fibrosis. With the use of Kalydeco, the new medication has helped pediatric patients with cystic disease, as an untreatable serious disease, to breathe better and live a normal life. Children’s Hospital Colorado has one of the largest heart tissue banks for children. It also uses horse therapy in the management of children with autism.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Diabetes & Endocrinology; Neonatology; Pulmonology |
No. 7 Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
Babies that are born too soon are often underdeveloped and too small to survive, so local hospitals usually send their premature and very premature newborns to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It has a neonatal intensive care unit with a high survival rate for babies who are born a few months too soon (22 to 27 week-old babies). Their extensive research has led, not only to survival, but to adequate growth and development of the underdeveloped, underweight babies.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital advocates transparency, and is the first hospital to post data on patient-safety online through its website. One of its current research endeavors is to design a vaccine that can prevent a common pediatric condition, which is related with ear infection.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Nephrology; Pulmonology; Cancer; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Urology |
No. 8 Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago offers one of the country’s largest treatment programs for a congenital heart disease affecting the aorta. Because of its refined methods of medical imaging, surgeons are able to find the exact locations of vascular rings in this disease and repair them surgically with more precision. The hospital has also designed a CT scan machine which looks like a colorful submarine, making children more comfortable in the process. Besides, its research arm has increased awareness on food allergies in children, after it conducted the largest investigation on this condition.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Urology |
No. 9 Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has helped many children who are battling serious conditions such as brain tumors and other rare neurological conditions, using new medical and surgical techniques, such as targeted therapy, stem cell transplantation and bone marrow transplants. A vaccine that targets proteins in brain tumor cells has been developed to improve the survival rate of children who have no active response to chemotherapy. The hospital is also honored of achieving a 100% success rate in liver transplants for kids, who are suffering from a genetic disorder called maple syrup urine disease.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Diabetes & Endocrinology; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Pulmonology |
No. 10 Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore
The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center is the largest pediatric hospital in Maryland, with more than 200 beds, including 45 NICU beds. It offers a comprehensive medical program for children within a state-of-the-art facility and additional clinics for outpatient services. The hospital gets about 30,000 emergency department visits and 9,000 admissions annually. It has a pediatric trauma center that is the only one designated by the state. Johns Hopkins offers pediatric ECMO, a sophisticated heart bypass machine that surgeons use for temporary circulation and blood oxygenation in the critically ill.
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Hospital website |
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Highest-ranking specialties |
Neurology & Neurosurgery; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Pulmonology |