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Here Are This Year's Top Children's Hospitals

— Boston Children's Hospital again leads national rankings

MedpageToday
A gold laurel wreath over a gold-tinted photo of the exterior of Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, MA.

When it comes to choosing the top healthcare facilities for kids with rare or life-threatening diseases, U.S. News & World Report has it covered, ranking the each year.

Boston Children's Hospital took the top spot on this year's honor roll, followed by Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Overall, 10 hospitals earned a place on the list.

Hospitals are also sorted by the best in each region, and the top-ranked in 10 various pediatric specialties, among other lists.

To create the rankings, U.S. News gathered key clinical data from nearly 200 medical centers through a survey that looked at certain measures, such as patient safety, infection prevention, and adequacy of nurse staffing. Part of each hospital's score is derived from surveys of more than 15,000 pediatric specialists who are asked where they would send the sickest children within their field of work.

Only 90 hospitals were ranked in at least one of the 10 pediatric specialities evaluated, U.S. News said.

"The Best Children's Hospitals rankings spotlight hospitals that excel in specialized care, offering parents and their pediatricians a helpful starting point in choosing the facility that's best for their child," said Ben Harder, director of healthcare analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, in a statement.

"Recognizing that hospitals with inclusive and equitable cultures perform better, this year we added a new measure assessing hospitals' efforts to improve the equity of care provided and to promote diversity and inclusion among clinicians and staff," he added.

Below are the hospitals included on this year's honor roll, as well as the top hospitals in each region and specialty.

2022-2023 Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll

1. Boston Children's Hospital

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric cancer (#1), pediatric nephrology (#1), pediatric neurology & neurosurgery (#1), pediatric orthopedics (#1), and pediatric urology (#1)
  • Previous year's ranking: 1

2. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric cardiology & heart surgery (#1), pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery (#1), and pediatric neurology & neurosurgery (#2)
  • Previous year's ranking: 3

3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric gastroenterology & GI surgery (#1), pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery (#2), pediatric diabetes & endocrinology (#3), and pediatric cancer (#3)
  • Previous year's ranking: 4

4. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric diabetes & endocrinology (#1), pediatric urology (#2), and pediatric gastroenterology & GI surgery (#2)
  • Previous year's ranking: 2

5. Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: neonatology (#1), pediatric neurology & neurosurgery (#3), and pediatric nephrology (#5)
  • Previous year's ranking: 7

6. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric cardiology & heart surgery (#3), neonatology (#4), and pediatric diabetes & endocrinology (#6)
  • Previous year's ranking: 9

7. Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric diabetes & endocrinology (#4), pediatric gastroenterology & GI surgery (#4), and pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery (#6)
  • Previous year's ranking: 6

8. Children's Hospital Los Angeles

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric gastroenterology & GI surgery (#6), pediatric orthopedics (#6), pediatric diabetes & endocrinology (#7), and pediatric urology (#7)
  • Previous year's ranking: 5

9. Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric gastroenterology & GI surgery (#8); pediatric neurology & neurosurgery (#9); and pediatric nephrology, neonatology, and pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery (#10 for each)
  • Previous year's ranking: 8

10. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto, California

  • Number of 2022-2023 honor roll specialties: 10
  • Highest-ranking specialties: pediatric nephrology (#2), pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery (#5), and neonatology (#6)
  • Previous year's ranking: 10

2022-2023 Best Children's Hospitals -- Regional Rankings

  • Pacific: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
  • Rocky Mountain: Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora
  • Southwest: Texas Children's Hospital, Houston
  • Southeast: Children's Hospital of Alabama at UAB, Birmingham; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville (tie)
  • Midwest: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  • Mid-Atlantic: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  • New England: Boston Children's Hospital

2022-2023 Best Children's Hospitals in Each Specialty

  • Cancer: Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Hospital
  • Cardiology & Heart Surgery: Texas Children's Hospital, Houston
  • Diabetes & Endocrinology: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Gastroenterology & GI Surgery: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  • Neonatology: Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.
  • Nephrology: Boston Children's Hospital
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery: Boston Children's Hospital
  • Orthopedics: Boston Children's Hospital
  • Pulmonology & Lung Surgery: Texas Children's Hospital
  • Urology: Boston Children's Hospital
  • author['full_name']

    Jennifer Henderson joined 51˶ as an enterprise and investigative writer in Jan. 2021. She has covered the healthcare industry in NYC, life sciences and the business of law, among other areas.