Valley Children’s Hospital earns national honors in seven care specialties
Valley Children’s Hospital was named among the Best Children’s Hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, earning top-50 rankings from the publication for seven separate specialties.
The 2021-22 rankings for the hospital, located in Madera County near Highway 41 and just north of Fresno, included:
- 24th for pediatric orthopedics
- 31st for pediatric pulmonology/lung surgery
- 31st nationally for neonatology
- 37th for pediatric neurology/neurosurgery
- 42nd for pediatric urology
- 43rd in pediatric gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery
- 48th for pediatric diabetes/endocrinology
It’s the sixth year that Valley Children’s has been included in the U.S. News rankings, and ties last year for the largest number of specialty fields in which the hospital earned recognition. The hospital received Top 50 honors for the same seven specialties in the 2020-21 rankings last year.
“These rankings are an indication of the truly special things we do day in and day out here,” said Dr. David Christensen, Valley Children’s senior vice president of medical affairs and chief physician executive. “Despite all of the challenges our teams faced not only here, but also at home, they came to work, they focused on caring for kids and we’ve been able to not only maintain our quality standards, but improve on them.”
In its analysis, U.S. News considers a range of measures including patient outcome, mortality and infection rates, clinical resources and compliance with best practices. U.S. News began ranking children’s hospitals in 2007.
“When choosing a hospital for a sick child, many parents want specialized expertise, convenience and caring medical professionals,” U.S. News managing editor and health analysis chief Ben Harder said. “The Best Children’s Hospitals rankings have always highlighted hospitals that excel in specialized care. As the pandemic continues to affect travel, finding high-quality care close to home has never been more important.”
U.S. News also ranked Valley Children’s as the fifth-best children’s hospital in California and sixth-best in the western U.S.
Valley Children’s president/CEO Todd Suntrapak also acknowledged the challenges of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic that reached the central San Joaquin Valley 15 months ago.
“There has been no greater set of difficulties presented to our country and to our healthcare infrastructure than what we’re experiencing now,” Suntrapak said. “Yet our pediatric specialists and our staff continue to answer every challenge, never taking their eye off the ball of easing the pain and suffering of children and fighting for their futures.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 12:14 PM.
