Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago named among 'America's Best'' by U.S.News & World Report
Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago named among 'America's Best' by U.S.News & World Report
June 3, 2010
Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago has again been ranked among the best children's hospitals in the United States, according to the 2010 edition of America's Best Children's Hospitals, to be published by U.S.News & World Report.
Comer Children's Hospital, which opened in 2005, placed in the top 30 in three specialties, up from two last year and one in 2008. In 2010, Comer was rated #21 in diabetes and endocrinology (up from 22 in 2009), #24 in neurology and neurosurgery (new to the list), and #26 in neonatal care (up from 30 in 2009).
"Very sick kids need very special care," said Senior Writer Avery Comarow, who has been editor of the America's Best Hospitals and America's Best Children's Hospitals annual rankings since their inception. "The best places for them are pediatric facilities with a deep pool of expertise in their particular illness."
As a major referral center for treatment of complex disease, Comer Children's Hospital cares for thousands of children each year. Nearly 6,000 children were hospitalized at Comer last year, most from the Chicago area, but many from the Midwest and around the world. Physicians at Comer also provided more than 32,000 general pediatric and specialty care visits as well as 30,000 visits to the Comer pediatric emergency room.
The hospital is named for the late Gary Comer, the founder of Lands' End, who made a generous gift in 2001 to establish Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago, followed by another gift to build the Comer Pediatric Emergency Department, followed by another donation to create the Comer Center for Children and Specialty Care at the University of Chicago.
Since Comer opened in 2005, replacing the University's former children's hospital, the health care teams there, headed by University of Chicago faculty physicians, have expanded the hospital's reputation as a nationally recognized center for neonatal care, diabetes, pediatric neurosurgery, childhood cancers and other specialties.
The latest rankings were posted June 3 on U.S.News & World Report -- America's Best Children's Hospitals website. They will be published in the August print issue of U.S.News & World Report, which will be available on newsstands July 27.
The only other Illinois children's hospital to appear on the list was Children's Memorial, Chicago, which ranked in the top 30 in nine specialties.