Membership Spotlight
Talk about national rankings, for the sixth consecutive year U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Business Council of Alabama member Children’s of Alabama among the nation’s best children’s hospitals.
Seven of Children’s pediatric specialty services were placed among the top 50 in the United States in the magazine’s 2015-16 “Best Children’s Hospital rankings.”
The pediatric specialties that were ranked were: Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Neonatology, Urology, and Pulmonology.
U.S. News & World Report annually ranks 10 specialties – Cancer, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Heart/Heart Surgery, Kidney, Neonatology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Urology.
The complete listing and corresponding rankings may be found here. Click “see all” under each category.
Children’s is the only pediatric facility in Alabama to be ranked consecutively in the last six years, the hospital said.
“We are very pleased that for the sixth straight year we are ranked among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals,” Children’s CEO and President Mike Warren said. “Without question we provide exceptional care, service and comfort to the patients who are entrusted to us.”
Part of each hospital’s score was derived from surveys in 2013, 2014 and 2015. More than 10,000 pediatric specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.
Children’s and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery collaborated to submit the requested information. Children’s is the primary site for pediatric clinical and educational programs for the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
“The U.S. News & World Report ranking is further acknowledgement of the standard set by Children’s of Alabama,” said Mitch Cohen, M.D., physician-in-chief of Children’s and chair of the
Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
In 2014, families from all 67 Alabama counties, 42 other states, and 10 foreign countries made more than 653,000 outpatient visits to Children’s.
There were more than 64,000 emergency department visits and more than 22,000 surgeries were performed at the state’s only freestanding medical facility in 2014. About half of all admissions are through the emergency department.
U.S. News introduced the Best Children’s Hospital rankings eight years ago to help families of sick children find the best medical care available. The rankings offer families an exclusive look at quality-related information at the individual hospital level.
Children’s of Alabama has provided specialized medical care for ill and injured children since 1911, offering inpatient and outpatient services throughout Alabama. With more than 2 million square feet, Children’s is the third largest pediatric medical facility in the U.S.
On the web at www.childrensal.org.
– Dana Beyerle