Children's Hospital Rated Third in US by Child Magazine

Child magazine has rated Children's Hospital of Wisconsin the third best children's hospital in the nation. Its Emergency Department was ranked first in the nation in pediatric emergency medical care, and the Herma Heart Center was ranked fifth in pediatric cardiac care. Also listed in the top 10 were Orthopaedics (6th place) and Neonatology (7th place).

Children's Hospital is a major teaching hospital affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Results of the comprehensive survey and articles about the top 10 children's hospitals and five super-specialties are published in the February issue of Child magazine.

The hospital's Emergency Department is staffed by Medical College physicians. Marc H. Gorelick, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine and Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, is Medical Director of Emergency Services.

Medical College cardiovascular surgeons and pediatric cardiologists provide support to the Herma Heart Center. Stuart Berger, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, and James S. Tweddel, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, are Medical Directors of the Center.

John G. Thometz, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, is Chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery. Girija Ganesh Konduri, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, is Chief of Neonatology.

The announcement of the new rankings of children's hospitals was made on the January 4 Today show on NBC. Children's Hospital had not been included on the list in previous survey years.

"This is only the third time that Child magazine has published this biennial report, and was by far the closest contest to date," said Karen Cicero, senior editor of the magazine. "Children's Hospital of Wisconsin clearly emerged as a leader not only in the top 10, but as the prestigious third in the nation. The quality of pediatric care the hospital provides on so many levels is most impressive."

The ranking is the result of Child magazine's comprehensive study of pediatric hospitals across the United States. In order to be selected, hospitals had to be full voting members of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI); 144 qualified. From that group, the field was narrowed to nearly 100 institutions based on evaluations by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

The semifinalists received the 164-question survey developed by Child magazine's medical advisory board in spring 2004. The survey addressed critical areas of pediatric-specific care surrounding survival rates, heart surgeries, solid organ transplants, neonatology services, staff qualifications, nurse-to-patient ratios, research and clinical trials, family support and other services unique to pediatric health care.

The Child magazine survey currently is the only comprehensive, data-driven ranking of children's hospitals in the nation.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have been ranked so high on this prestigious list," said Jon E. Vice, president and CEO of Children's Hospital and Health System. "We always have known that our hospital is a leader when it comes to caring for children. This ranking proves that we are highly competitive with the best in the nation, and now are part of this elite group."

Emergency Department #1 in Nation
The Emergency Department (ED) at Children's Hospital was rated number one in the nation, and specifically highlighted in the Child magazine article. According to Cicero, only five hospitals were recognized for their emergency programs because of the unique and difficult set of criteria used to rank them.

"Despite the fact that Children's Hospital of Wisconsin's Emergency Department is one of the busiest in the nation, it was notably strong in all areas, including patient satisfaction scores, pediatric specific training of staff, staff to patient ratios, wait times, triage processes and prevention initiatives," Cicero said.

Noted in the article is the ED's commitment to keeping children out of the hospital.

Prevention efforts like Project Ujima, a collaboration between the Medical College and Children's that focuses on violence prevention and intervention; the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, a federally funded network of leading pediatric emergency departments sharing research and information surrounding common childhood ED admissions; and clinical research on pain reduction measures were noted as innovations in pediatric emergency care unique to Children's Hospital.

"We are proud that our emergency care has received this highest rating," said Marc Gorelick, MD. "Our entire team has worked hard to improve wait times and triage processes, and constantly is charged with improving the systems behind the care we provide to children and adolescents in our community. It is great to know that we are setting national standards."

More than 63,000 Emergency Department/Trauma Center and Children's Urgent Care visits are made each year. Children's Hospital was re-verified as a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons in 2004. The hospital currently is the only freestanding Level I Trauma Center dedicated solely to the care of children in Wisconsin.

Herma Heart Center Rated #5 in Nation
The Herma Heart Center was rated fifth in the nation for pediatric cardiac care. The center performed more than 700 pediatric heart surgeries and nearly 12,000 total diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical procedures in 2003.

In the highly competitive subspecialty of cardiac care, Children's Hospital has the best published survival rate for the Norwood procedure in the world. The Norwood procedure is the first of three procedures performed on newborns with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one of the most complex and fatal heart defects. The center has achieved survival rates of greater than 98% for all cardiac operations for five consecutive years.

"In addition to our outstanding clinical care and outcomes, Child magazine also noted that Herma Heart Center staff leads Project ADAM (Automated Defibrillators in Adam's Memory)," said Cinthia Christensen, RN, JD, executive vice president and COO of Children's Hospital. "The project aims to eradicate sudden cardiac death in children through research, education and prevention initiatives."

The Herma Heart Center also coordinates with the Fetal Concerns Program, a joint initiative between Children's Hospital, the Medical College and Froedtert Hospital, that diagnoses babies with heart defects before they are born and offers services and care coordination to families faced with these diagnoses.

Expanded exercise physiology evaluation, research into adult congenital heart disease and preventive cardiology all contribute to the comprehensive and unique care that ranks Herma Heart Center in the top five.

"We are fortunate that our top-notch care has expanded to include clinics in Neenah, Sheboygan, Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, and in Gurnee, Illinois. Our surgical team also travels to Marshfield, Wisconsin, and Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, to perform some types of procedures," said Christensen. The center's outreach programs have allowed families outside of Milwaukee much greater access to this subspecialized care.

MCW Health News presents up-to-date information on patient care and medical research by the physicians of the Medical College of Wisconsin.