Again this year, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is included among the nation’s leaders in pediatric health care in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. The hospital achieved rankings in a maximum of 10 out of 10 pediatric specialty programs.
[rquote]“This news is further validation of our ongoing commitment to deliver the very highest level of care to the children and families of our region,” said C. Wright Pinson, deputy vice chancellor for Health Affairs and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System.[/rquote] “The faculty and staff of Children’s Hospital are to be commended as we celebrate these rankings.”
The U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings for 2011-2012 recognize top performers among the nation’s 177 designated pediatric hospitals. The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has been ranked every year by U.S. News since the inception of the pediatric rankings, now in their fifth year.
“We are pleased that Children’s Hospital enjoys a national reputation in 10 specialties,” said Luke Gregory, chief executive officer of Children’s Hospital. “Few hospitals offer such expertise in so many areas. Our community pediatricians are to be commended for their guidance and support of these strong medical resources for all families.”
Children’s Hospital continues to be a leader in Urology, improving one spot to now rank 5th. A substantial improvement was also seen in Cardiology and Heart Surgery, with Vanderbilt’s program moving from 26th to 20th in the nation, while the Division of Neonatology maintained its No. 11 spot.
Other specialties ranked this year include: Cancer-41, Diabetes and Endocrinology-25, Gastroenterology-22, Nephrology-39, Neurology and Neurosurgery-39, Orthopaedics-33 and Pulmonology-36.
“We are ecstatic in Pediatric Urology to be recognized as one of the top five programs in our discipline in the United States,” said John W. Brock III, director of Pediatric Urology, surgeon-in-chief for Children’s Hospital and Monroe Carell Jr. Chair. “This is simply a testament to the outstanding work of a great faculty, great medical staff and great hospital. What is most important to us is that we are being recognized for a continued commitment to be the very best in all that we do for the children and families we serve.”
Children’s Hospital recently began construction on a 33-bed expansion project to continue and expand upon the same excellence in care. The 30,000-square-foot, $30 million project will include additional acute, neonatal intensive care and medical-surgical beds. An additional $20 million also is planned for programmatic enhancements that focus on the three childhood diseases most prevalent in Middle Tennessee – childhood cancer, childhood heart disease and prematurity.
Children’s Hospital’s neonatology program, ranked 11th, is a key focus for the hospital and is leading the way to help the tiniest patients.
“We have a world-class, nationally ranked neonatology program with faculty and staff that are second to none,” said Judy Aschner, chief of Neonatology. “Our program provides excellence in family-centered patient care, is at the forefront of neonatal research, and provides specialized services unavailable elsewhere in our region for the most complex newborn patients. Our comprehensive program, including post-discharge developmental follow-up, justifies our national ranking.”
The U.S. News rankings are calculated using clinical outcomes, reputation and other care-related data, including survival rates, nurse staffing, and subspecialist availability, among other factors. The rankings also consider pediatric specialists’ recommendations for hospitals where they would send the sickest pediatric patients.
This year’s full rankings are available online and they will also appear in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Guide, available on newsstands Aug. 30.
Contact: Jeremy Rush (615) 322-4747
jeremy.rush@vanderbilt.edu