Children’s Hospital in Aurora is rated as the 5th best children’s hospital in the United States, according to results released today by U.S. News & World Report.
The magazine said it surveyed nearly 180 children’s hospitals to obtain the data that made up 75 percent of the rankings. A separate reputational survey of 1,500 pediatric specialists made up the remaining 25 percent.
“This is fantastic news for the children of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region who continue to have access to the nation’s top health care providers in their own backyards,” said Jim Shmerling, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital. “I’m honored to be part of such a fine organization and to be surrounded by talented colleagues who are committed to providing the best care to every child.”
Children’s has been ranked a top children’s hospital by U.S. News & world Report every year since the inception of its rankings edition in 1993.
The rankings recognized the top 50 children’s hospitals in 10 specialities including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.
Five of Children’s specialty areas were among the country’s top 10.
U.S. News health rankings editor Avery Comarow said the Aurora facility is among the best of the best.
“We salute The Children’s Hospital,” said Comarow. “The goal of the … rankings is to call attention to pediatric centers with expertise to help the sickest kids, and The Children’s Hospital in Denver is one of those centers.”
In pediatric categories, Children’s Hospital in Aurora was ranked fourth in pulmonology and diabetes/endocrinology.
It was ranked fifth in gastroenterology; ninth in orthopedics; 10th in cancer; 12th in neonatology; 17th in cardiology and heart surgery; 20th in neurology and neurosurgery; 31st in urology and 32nd in nephrology.
The survey by the magazine asks questions about survival rates, nurse staffing, subspecialist availability and many more pieces of “critical information.”
The Aurora facility is a 314-bed children’s general facility with 12,869 admissions in the most recent reported year, according to the magazine. It performed 4,704 annual inpatient and 13,087 outpatient surgeries.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
