Brenner Children’s Hospital Ranked among Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for the First Time

June 11, 2013

LEADS NORTH CAROLINA IN PEDIATRIC UROLOGY SPECIALTY 

Brenner Children’s Hospital, the pediatric arm of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is among the best children’s hospitals in the country according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. 

This marks Brenner Children’s debut on the annual pediatric hospitals list; the hospital is ranked in three pediatric specialties: neonatology (# 36), orthopedics (#44) and urology (#33). Brenner leads North Carolina children’s hospitals in the urology category. 

“We are delighted to have been ranked this year by US News and World Report,” said Marty B. Scott, M.D., vice president, Brenner Children’s Hospital. “As the region’s only academic medical center, we have provided the highest level of care available to help children get back to being children for more than 25 years. In addition, our expert faculty train and teach the next generation of pediatricians, who go out into the community and practice what they have learned here. It’s an honor to be recognized for delivering outstanding care to children.” 

This year’s 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. 

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 of the 10 specialties. The 1,500 physicians were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty, setting aside location and expense. 

“Brenner Children’s Hospital deserves high praise,” said Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow. “Ranking shows the dedication and expertise that Brenner Children’s 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. 

Survival rates, 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.

Media Relations

Paula Faria: pfaria@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-1279