Children's Medical Center ranked among top 30 pediatric hospitals

Only hospital in North Texas and one of only two in Texas to make prestigious list

Children's Medical Center Dallas has been named one of the top 30 pediatric hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report in the magazines first stand-alone Americas Best Children's Hospitals issue.

Children's was the only hospital in Dallas and one of only two pediatric hospitals in Texas that placed in the top 30 of more than 250 Children's hospitals in the U.S. This is the third time that Children's has been included in the 18-year history of the prestigious list, with the last recognition in 2005.

This is a fitting recognition for the physicians and staff and the care they provide for our patients and their families each day, said Christopher J. Durovich, president and chief executive officer of Children's. It is a privilege for us to be included among the nations best pediatric hospitals.

To be eligible for this years rankings, a medical facility had to be classified by the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) as a freestanding Children's hospital or as a Children's hospital within a hospital a large, multidisciplinary pediatric service within a medical center. Of the 122 Children's hospitals that met this standard as of March 2007, 113 responded to a U.S. News & World Report survey asking for data and statistics on a variety of procedures such as the number of bone marrow transplants and difficult heart operations performed.

Since launching our annual rankings of hospitals in 1990, the demand for facilities dedicated to the unique needs of children has changed dramatically, said Avery Comarow, a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report who has been editor of the Americas Best Hospitals annual rankings since their inception. Improving the usefulness and relevance of the rankings in this important specialty has been a longstanding goal of the magazine. We hope that parents and caregivers will find this special report helpful when seeking out medical attention for their child.

U.S. News & World Reports previous pediatric hospital rankings were based on reputation alone. This years expanded version is based on a new and improved methodology, which weighed a three-part mix of reputation, death rate and such care-related factors as volume, nursing care, advanced technology and recognition by outside organizations.

Children's Medical Center Dallas is private, not-for-profit, and is one of the largest pediatric healthcare providers in the nation. As the only academic healthcare facility in North Texas dedicated exclusively to the comprehensive care of children from birth to age 18, Children's provides patient care ranging from simple eye exams to specialized treatment in areas such as heart disease, hematology-oncology and cystic fibrosis. In addition, Children's is a major pediatric kidney, liver, intestine, heart and bone marrow transplant center. As the primary pediatric teaching facility for The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, the medical staff at Children's conducts research that is instrumental in developing treatments, therapies, and greater understanding of pediatric diseases.

Children's is licensed for 411 beds and has more than 50 subspecialty programs. The hospital is the only designated Level I trauma center for pediatrics in the Southwest. To better serve the regions growing pediatric population, Children's Medical Center Legacy will open in 2008 in Plano, Texas.

Children's enjoys a stellar reputation as one of the finest pediatric facilities in the U.S. The Joint Commission awarded Children's an overall outstanding ranking, and both U.S. News & World Report and Child magazine have named Children's as one of the nations top pediatric hospitals.