NEW ORLEANS – For the fourth consecutive year, Ochsner Hospital for Children has been named among the top 50 children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice.
Ochsner Hospital for Children was recognized in cardiology and heart surgery in the new 2020-21 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings published online today.
For the fourth year in a row, Ochsner Hospital for Children is the only children’s hospital in Louisiana or Mississippi to receive this prestigious honor.
The 14th annual Best Children’s Hospitals rankings recognize the top 50 pediatric facilities across the U.S. in 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery and urology.
“Ochsner Hospital for Children works collaboratively across pediatric specialty disciplines to provide our patients with world-class care. We are proud of the work we do to keep kids across the Gulf South and beyond healthy. It is truly an honor to be recognized as a national leader in pediatric care,” said William Lennarz, MD, System Chair of Pediatrics, Ochsner Hospital for Children.
“Even in the midst of a pandemic, children have healthcare needs ranging from routine vaccinations to life-saving surgery and chemotherapy,” said Ben Harder, Managing Editor and Chief of Health Analysis at U.S. News. “The Best Children’s Hospitals rankings are designed to help parents find quality medical care for a sick child and inform families’ conversations with pediatricians.”
U.S. News introduced the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of children with rare or life-threatening illnesses find the best medical care available. The rankings are the most comprehensive source of quality-related information on pediatric hospitals in the United States.
The U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings rely on clinical data and on an annual survey of pediatric specialists. The rankings methodology factors in patient outcomes, such as mortality and infection rates, as well as available clinical resources and compliance with best practices.
Ochsner Hospital for Children’s team has been recognized on the national stage before, including:
- Recognition as a Best Children’s Hospital for cardiology and gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery in 2019, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery in 2018 and cardiology in 2017.
- In 2019, Ochsner teamed up with Mayo Clinic and other healthcare leaders as a member of the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.
- Ochsner’s Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgery Program’s surgical outcomes continue to greatly exceed national averages. Since 2017, Ochsner has achieved 100 percent survival in neonatal and child heart surgeries and in the Norwood Procedure, used to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome. In 2019, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons mortality rate for this procedure was 13.6 percent
- Ochsner was the recipient of the 2018 Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) Quality Award in the category of Patient Safety and Reduction of Harm as the top example based on 110 submissions from 60 children’s hospitals across the country.
Ochsner Hospital for Children has offered exceptional pediatric care for more than 75 years. Ochsner offers the only pediatric heart and liver transplant program in the state, serving over 76,000 children every year with more than 140 physicians specializing in more than 30 pediatric specialties and sub-specialties. Ochsner Hospital for Children’s flagship facility is in New Orleans, with subspecialty clinics across Louisiana and in Mississippi.