Child magazine announced the top children's hospitals in the U.S., and has published its findings in its February 2007 issue. University of Iowa Children's Hospital ranked 20th in the nation.

Michael Artman, MD, Physician-in-Chief, University of Iowa Children's Hospital, said, "To achieve a ranking of 20th is humbling and gratifying. This accomplishment confirms our overall excellence in pediatric medicine, surgery, nursing, research and education. It is a testament to the overall strength of our hospital."

Child surveyed U.S. children's hospitals over a nine month period. The data used to rank the children's hospitals was based on a variety of factors, including survival rates, number of complex procedures and intricate surgeries, volume of research studies, efforts to reduce medical errors, the quality and training of the doctors and nurses, child-friendliness, community involvement, and support for families.

Artman elaborated on the quality of care that patients receive when they come to the Children's Hospital, "There are around 160 physicians and surgeons that are employed by the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, 41 of these were selected as "Best Doctors in America" in 2006". This excellence in clinical care, combined with world-class nursing, results in outstanding results for even the most complex conditions. Another distinguishing feature of University of Iowa Children's Hospital is our strong research programs that put us on the leading edge of medical care. The Department of Pediatrics consistently ranks within the top 10 of all U.S. public medical schools in the amount of research funding that is awarded to them.

Family-centered care is also considered a priority. Parents of children that are patients of the University of Iowa Children's Hospital are not considered visitors; but are instead viewed as valuable members of the health care team and their presence is seen as vital to the recovery process. That's why in 2005 a brand new 16 bedroom University of Iowa Children's Hospital Family Suite was constructed to aid the 32 guest rooms Ronald McDonald House that were serving patients' family members.

Child also examined six pediatric specialties of each hospital in order to better rank them, the specialties examined were: cancer care, cardiac care, emergency care, neonatal care, orthopedic care, and pulmonary care.

Neonatal Care:
The 55-bed, all single rooms, state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was a large contributing factor towards the obtaining of an overall 20th ranking in the nation. With consultants in all pediatric subspecialties, the NICU is well prepared to render specialized care to any newborn child with medical or surgical problems.

Jeffrey Segar, MD, director of the Neonatology Division notes how his division is a constant leader in neonatology practices, "In addition to being an outstanding academic and research division, our clinical outcomes, as benchmarked by the Vermont-Oxford Network, a voluntary collaboration comprising over 600 neonatal intensive care units in the United States and around the world against hundreds of other NICU's, rank among the top 10%. Thus we are a multi-faceted division, offering strength in research and clinical care".

Cardiac Care:
In 2005 the cardiac service at University of Iowa Children's Hospital provided state-of-the-art clinical and diagnostic services to more than 4,500 patients. Almost 1,400 of those patients were referred by other hospitals.

The cardiac service is kept on the forefront of emerging technology with the development of an automated 4-dimensional MRI image analysis method that has been instrumental in identifying heart problems in children and adolescents.

Prevention is a top priority and is spurred on by active research projects that are constantly being conducted. One potentially groundbreaking research project in progress is aimed at identifying risk factors for congenital heart defects by studying genetics and family medical history.

Cancer Care:
Patients in the Pediatric Cancer Program are privy to the most advanced forms of pediatric bone marrow transplant techniques using a method of T-Cell depletion. This leads to many more opportunities in finding matched unrelated donors, and partially matched or mismatched donors. Patients that received unrelated donor transplants from the University of Iowa Children's Hospital were shown to have an impressive 100% five year survival rate.

The Pediatric Cancer Program at University of Iowa Children's Hospital not only follows the most up to date and strictest national protocols but also offers services that go above and beyond normal medical care. Pet therapy, music therapy, and massage therapy are some of the complementary treatment programs that the Pediatric Cancer Program offers in addition to traditional treatments.

Emergency Care:
The UI Emergency Treatment Center boasts one of the fastest times around for getting a patient from triage to being seen by a physician; at just 18 minutes it's easy to see why this Level I trauma center is the preferred emergency care unit of more than 30,000 patients a year with close to 7,000 of those patients being admitted for emergency care.

Eric W. Dickson, MD, FAAEM, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Emergency Medicine said, "Caring for acutely ill and injured children requires special equipment, special training, and special people. We have all three in the Emergency Department at University of Iowa Children's Hospital."

The Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is nationally recognized for it's excellence in part due to:

• Being verified by the American College of Surgeons.
• Participating in surveillance of early detection of epidemic ID or bio-terrorism.
• Enrollment in the National Trauma Databank.
• Conducting trauma and disaster drills throughout the year.

Orthopedic Care:
Since 1913 the University of Iowa Orthopaedic Department has excelled at its goal of providing excellent patient care. Sports medicine, spine, and trauma are just a few examples of the surgical and procedural practices performed at the Orthopedic Department. The professionalism and quality of the surgeries performed in the here helped to land the entire University of Iowa Children's Hospital into the top 20 best children's hospitals in Child magazine.

The UI Orthopaedic Department possesses one of the most advanced programs for transoral procedures used to treat complex spinal disorders. They also pioneered the 50 year tradition of a non-surgical approach to treating Club Foot, and pride themselves on their work with neuroendoscopy/excision for the minimally invasive removal of pituitary tumors.

Pulmonary Care:
The pediatric pulmonary service has developed a comprehensive approach towards asthma care in order to limit the amount of in-patient admissions. In fact, during 2005 there was not a single asthma related readmission by any patient within the first 30 days of being discharged.

The Sleep Center is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The on site Cystic Fibrosis Center is accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, as a Center of Care, Teaching, and Research.

The hospitals selected for possible ranking must be a full voting member of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. 116 hospitals nationwide qualified as fully voting members and were sent the 247-question survey that had been assembled by the advisory board.

Leaders in the field of pediatrics came together to form the advisory board for this survey. They hail from all over the nation, and have very different specializations in medicine; this allowed the questions that Child asked of different hospitals to be much more varied than they had been in the past.

Child is a print and web based publication that provides information and advice for mothers and fathers beginning at pre-conception and extending into the early years of childhood. They have been in publication for over 20 years conducting leading surveys and giving pediatric advice to more than five million parents a month.

Each year, University of Iowa Children's Hospital records more than 100,000 clinic visits and some 7,000 inpatient admissions. In addition, numerous pediatric outreach and satellite clinics provide primary and specialty care for children in communities throughout Iowa. A 165-bed "hospital within a hospital," University of Iowa Children's Hospital benefits from the sophisticated services and comprehensive resources of UI Hospitals and Clinics.

For more information:

University of Iowa Children's Hospital

Child magazine

Michael Artman, MD