Texas Children's Hospital ranked among best pediatric hospitals

Texas Children's Hospital has been named as a national leader among pediatric hospitals in U.S.News & World Report's 2012-13 edition of "Best Children's Hospitals."

Texas Children's Hospital was ranked fourth in the nation among pediatric hospitals in U.S. News & World Report's 2012-13 "Best Children's Hospitals."

"We are proud to have earned this recognition by U.S. News, again being ranked as one of the nation's best pediatric hospitals," said Texas Children's Hospital President and CEO Mark A. Wallace in a news release. "It is an outstanding achievement and a tribute to our physicians and staff for their passion for our mission and ardent dedication to excellence in patient care."

U.S. News also ranks pediatric hospitals across 10 major subspecialties and this year, Texas Children's was ranked in the top 10 for eight out of 10 categories.

Texas Children's  earned the Honor Roll distinction by being ranked second in neonatology, third in cardiology and heart surgery, third in gastroenterology, third in pulmonology, fourth in cancer, fifth in neurology and neurosurgery, fifth in nephrology, seventh in urology, fourteenth in diabetes and endocrinology and 33rd in orthopedics among pediatric hospitals across the nation.

"Texas Children's notable ranking, in the midst of other exemplary pediatric institutions, is truly outstanding," said Mark Kline, M.D., Texas Children's physician-in-chief and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor. "I'm particularly proud that we have four subspecialties ranked among the top three nationally and another three that are ranked among the top five. It's a reflection of the outstanding commitment by our physicians, clinicians, researchers and all employees to the highest standard of care for our patients."

The rankings methodology weighs a combination factors such as reputation, nursing care, advanced technology and credentialing. The hospitals were also judged based on a combination of opinions from pediatric specialists about the hospitals they would recommend for the sickest children.

"Treating everything from the most common to the highly complex surgical needs of children is an integral part of providing the highest quality of care and a major criterion of these rankings," said Charles D. Fraser Jr., M.D., surgeon-in-chief of Texas Children's and professor of congenital heart surgery at Baylor. "Texas Children's Department of Surgery is a preeminent surgical program nationally and these rankings signify the strength of both the department and hospital overall."

The 2012-13 edition of "Best Children's Hospitals" is available online at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals and will be featured in U.S. News's annual guidebook of "Best Hospitals 2013."

For more information, visit www.usnews.texaschildrens.org.