University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital named one of 'America's Best'

University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital named one of 'America's Best'

U.S.News & World Report's annual children's hospital survey lists neonatal care among country's elite

May 30, 2008

In its 2008 annual survey of children's hospitals, U.S.News & World Report selected the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital as one of the best in the United States.

The 2008 America's Best Children's Hospitals listing--available on newsstands Monday, June 2--lists the 30 top-ranked hospitals in general pediatrics and six specialties. Comer ranked 20th in the country for neonatal care (the care of critically ill or very premature newborns).

Although the University of Chicago Medical Center has been ranked ten times in the last 12 years in the magazine's sought-after "Honor Roll," this is the first time that Comer Children's Hospital, which opened in 2005, has appeared on the U.S.News survey.

The specialty rankings for this year were based on a blend of reputation, outcomes, and care-related measures such as nursing care, advanced technology, credentialing and other factors.

"This is an important form of recognition for some of the most dedicated and thoughtful people in health care," said neonatal care specialist Michael D. Schreiber, MD, Interim Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Physician-in-Chief for Comer Children's Hospital.

"Neonatal care is a difficult field," Schreiber said, "in terms of its technical demands, the constant medical and ethical decision making it requires, and the need for caregivers to manage their tiny, complex, fragile patients as well as the emotional roller coaster faced by the infants' parents."

Ranking-eligible facilities were largely drawn from members of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) in either of two categories--a freestanding children's hospital or a children's "hospital within a hospital" (a large, multidisciplinary pediatric service within a medical center). In addition, several non-NACHRI members were added because of known expertise or at the recommendation of experts.

The survey was constructed by RTI International, which collects the data and oversees the methodology behind the adult Best Hospitals rankings. A detailed description of the methodology can be found online at www.usnews.com/pediatrics.

Last July, in the 2007 "Best Hospitals" issue, the magazine ranked the University of Chicago Medical Center at 17th out of America's 5,462 hospitals. Last March, in the U.S.News & World Report 2008 "Best Graduate Schools" issue, two bioscience graduate programs, paleontology and ecology/evolutionary biology, were ranked the best in the United States, and the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine was tied for 16th.