"We are proud to be named America's best hospital for children," says Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., president and chief executive officer of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We take our responsibility as a leader in providing excellent patient care seriously and are committed to finding cures and treatments for children through innovative research and quality education."
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was also named the number one children's hospital in America two consecutive times by a comprehensive data-based study conducted by Child Magazine. Children's Hospital previously held the number two spot on the U.S. News &World Report list for the first 13 years the ranking was issued.
The U.S. News & World Report survey ranks specialty institutions solely by reputation among board-certified physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association database.
"This recognition can be attributed to all the dedicated physicians, nurses and employees who tirelessly care for sick children every day – and to all those involved in seeking new treatments and conducting groundbreaking research that can improve the quality of life for tomorrow's children," says Richard M. Armstrong, Jr., chairman, Board of Trustees, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"Our ultimate mission is to cure all pediatric diseases. We conduct research that seeks to have a daily clinical impact by bringing the latest discoveries from the laboratory to the patient's bedside," says Alan R. Cohen, M.D., Physician-in-Chief and Chair, Department of Pediatrics.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the leading research and clinical facilities for children in the world, encompassing expertise in virtually every medical subspecialty. Examples include:
The Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is an established provider of multidisciplinary care for children with acquired and congenital heart disease. It houses an internationally renowned program in cardiothoracic surgery, as well as the East Coast's largest heart and heart/lung transplantation program. The Cardiac Center performs more than 900 cardiac surgical procedures a year, including 500 pediatric open heart surgeries, and provides cardiac evaluation and treatment in more than 17,000 outpatient visits annually. The Center's extensive experience in cardiac catheterization techniques has helped foster its expansion from solely a diagnostic tool to its use as a therapeutic modality. Cardiac Center surgeons are leaders in the use of pioneering techniques for minimally invasive cardiac surgery in children, including the modification of instruments for use in pediatric patients. The Fetal Heart Program, a subspecialty within the Cardiac Center, provides prenatal diagnoses that lead to earlier treatment interventions and improved outcomes overall. It specializes in the detection, evaluation and ongoing management of congenital heart disease. More than 1,200 fetal echocardiography studies are performed annually, making it among the largest programs of its kind in the nation.
The Oncology Program is one of the nation's largest cancer programs dedicated exclusively to children and is home to an international center for pediatric cancer research. The institution's oncology unit currently consists of 31inpatient beds and a dedicated outpatient-only oncology clinic. The Oncology program admits more than 400 new cancer patients each year and provides follow-up care to an additional 3,600 children. Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are leading the way in research by classifying and treating neuroblastoma, the most common solid tumor in children. Children's Hospital is also at the forefront of developing new therapies to treat pediatric brain tumors. Additionally, researchers here have pioneered a study of the long-term effects of treatment on survivors of childhood cancer and have developed the first long-term follow-up program in the nation for childhood cancer survivors.
The 50-bed Newborn/Infant Center is equipped to provide for the complete range of neonatal and infant critical illnesses, including all types of respiratory, surgical, cardiac, genetic, renal neurological, hematological and metabolic diseases.
The Newborn/Infant Center receives approximately 900 admissions per year and serves as a primary referral center for other neonatal intensive care units. Infants with certain problems, such as those with severe lung disease or surgical abnormalities identified prenatally, are frequently referred on both the national and international level to the Newborn/Infant Center for highly specialized care.
Established in 1995, The Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment is one of only two comprehensive centers worldwide to offer technologically advanced, multidisciplinary care for unborn babies with genetic or anatomical abnormalities. Center physicians are considered pioneers in the innovative field of fetal surgery.
Founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia continues to be ranked as the best pediatric hospital in the nation by a comprehensive Child magazine survey. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking second in National Institutes of Health Funding. Children's Hospital operates the nation's most comprehensive pediatric healthcare network, including eight outpatient specialty care centers, inpatient pediatric, neonatal and intensive care units at regional community hospitals and 28 Kids First pediatric and adolescent practices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.