WASHINGTON — Hospitals in D.C. and Baltimore rank among the best in the nation, according to a new list released by U.S. News & World Report.
Overall, Children’s National Medical Center in D.C. ranked No. 5 and John’s Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore ranked No. 8 on the “honor roll,” which lists the best-performing children’s hospitals across 10 pediatric specialties including neonatal care, neurology, cancer and cardiology.
“It’s really a lucky thing for families living in the Baltimore-Washington region that we have two great children’s hospitals here,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News & World Report.
Hundreds of factors were analyzed — from what kind of medical specialists each hospital has, to how well young patients fare after treatment.
While thousands of hospitals can treat children as well as they treat adults, only a few hundred specialize in treating kids with “severe or particularly challenging medical diagnoses,” Harder said.
On last year’s list, Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 10 overall and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 5.
The complete “honor roll” listing, for this year, includes the following children’s hospitals:
- Boston Children’s Hospital
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Texas Children’s Hospital
- Children’s National Medical Center
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- Johns Hopkins Children’s Center
- Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Breaking down both hospitals’ performance
Both Children’s National Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center were ranked among the best in “every single specialty we looked at,” Harder said.
- Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 1 and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 16 for neonatology, which is caring for ill or premature children immediately after birth.
- In nephrology, which is the term for caring for kidney issues, Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 6 and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 10.
- When it comes to neurology and neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 4 and Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 5.
- For pediatric orthopedics, Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 8 and John’s Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 10.
- In pediatric pulmonology, the specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract, Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 9 and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 12.
- Children’s National Medical ranked No. 12 and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 17 for best pediatric gastroenterology.
- Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ranked No. 7 for urology while Children’s National Medical Center ranked No. 16.
Three regional hospitals were ranked in at least one of the specialties observed as well: Inova Children’s Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia (top 50 in neonatology); Children’s Hospital of Richmond (Virginia) at VCU (top 50 nephrology); and the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital (top 50 in cardiology and heart surgery).
