UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital was named as the second best in the state and tied with several other hospitals for 16th in the Midwest.
Advocate Children’s Hospital was ranked third best children’s hospital in Illinois and tied for 23rd in the Midwest. Lurie tied with five other hospitals for third best in the region.
No Illinois children’s hospital made the national top 10 list. The last time an Illinois hospital was ranked among the top 10 nationally was when Lurie earned the distinction in 2018.
To rank hospitals, U.S. News, along with research firm RTI International, analyzed data from 118 children’s hospitals across the country and surveyed thousands of pediatric specialists. The rankings looked at data such as patient survival, infection rates, complications and hospital staffing. U.S. News examined care across 11 pediatric specialties.
Lurie ranked among the top 25 hospitals in the country for each of the 11 specialties. It notched sixth place in the country for pediatric urology, and seventh in the nation for pediatric nephrology and neurology and neurosurgery.
Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, Lurie chief medical officer, said he’s “immensely proud” of all the members of Lurie’s team, saying they provide “world-class care.” The hospital has been able to hold onto its top ranking in Illinois thanks partly to a focus on adhering to best practices for patient safety and quality, he said.
“We continue to improve each and every year on the metrics that are measured,” Malakooti said.
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Comer had three specialties rank among the top 50 in the country — pediatric cancer; diabetes and endocrinology; and neurology and neurosurgery. Advocate had one specialty rank among the top 50, pediatric cardiology and heart surgery.
Though hospitals often highlight high rankings in their advertising to help attract patients, experts say families should use them as just one piece of information when choosing a hospital. A number of organizations rate hospitals across the country each year, using different methodologies.
The best hospital for an individual child’s care may not always be the No. 1 pediatric hospital in a state or region, said Ben Harder, chief of health care analytics for U.S. News & World Report.
“The right care is multifactorial, and being close to home and in the hands of providers and a care team the family trusts is vital,” Harder said.
Also, many general hospitals, not just pediatric hospitals, may actually be the best choices for children experiencing more common childhood emergencies, such as concussions, broken arms or asthma attacks, Harder said. Many hospitals across the U.S. can treat children experiencing emergencies even if they’re not actual pediatric hospitals.
The U.S. News rankings may be most useful for parents whose children have complex or challenging medical conditions that require months or years of follow-up care, he said.
U.S. News ranked as the top 10 children’s hospitals across the country this year, in alphabetical order: Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.