Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University Ranks in Nephrology in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals Rankings

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Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU has been ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals list. Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU ranked 50 in Nephrology.

The rankings highlight the top 50 U.S. hospitals in each of these pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology & heart surgery, diabetes & endocrinology, gastroenterology & GI surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology & neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology. Eighty-seven hospitals ranked in at least one of the 10 specialties.

“Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU deserves high praise,” said Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow. “Ranking shows the dedication and expertise that Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU brings to the care of children who need those qualities the most. We think it is important to identify and call attention to pediatric centers like this one.”

U.S. News introduced the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings in 2007 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.

Each hospital’s reputation among doctors was only a small part of what U.S. News factored into its rankings. Three-quarters of each hospital’s score was determined through an analysis of patient outcomes and data on the structural resources each hospital has for pediatric care. To gather data, U.S. News used two surveys: a clinical questionnaire sent to 179 pediatric hospitals and, for the reputational assessment, a survey of 150 pediatric specialists and subspecialists in each specialty. The 1,500 physicians were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty, setting aside location and expense.

“We have committed ourselves to growing pediatric programs at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU,” said Sheldon Retchin, MD, CEO of VCU Health System. “Pediatric kidney care was an area where we saw a need in the Richmond community. Attracting the right specialists and staff was an important step in building the program, and this national ranking is a great acknowledgement of the work they are doing for children in Richmond.”

Survival rates, adequacy of nurse staffing, procedure volume, and much more can be viewed on http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings and will be published in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014 guidebook, available beginning in August.