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The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Named Number One Pediatric Hospital in the U.S. by Parents Magazine

Posted on: Monday, 29 December 2008, 10:32 CST

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is named the nation's best pediatric hospital by Parents magazine.

"Children's Hospital employees work tirelessly everyday to ensure every family has the ideal patient experience and we are truly grateful to our dedicated and talented staff," said Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., president and chief executive officer of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We recognize our responsibility to provide excellent patient care, to conduct innovative research and to train tomorrow's pediatric specialists; our ultimate goal is to eradicate pediatric disease worldwide."

Parents surveyed more than 100 children's hospitals, to determine where the more than three million children hospitalized each year can get the best care possible. The results of the survey will appear in the February 2009 issue of Parents magazine on newsstands nationwide January 13, 2009.

"Every parent wants to make the most informed decisions about their child's health, and that's especially important when a child is facing a serious illness," says Dana Points, editor in chief of Parents. "We created this guide with the hope of making the difficult process of choosing the right hospital a little easier."

The Parents 10 Best Children's Hospital survey provides the most extensive data-driven comparison of children's hospitals to date. All surveyed hospitals are members of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. Hospitals are ranked on their responses to detailed questions in the following areas: survival rates for childhood cancer, pediatric heart disease, and other critical conditions; their experience in performing certain complex procedures; the depth of the research program; safeguards to prevent medical errors; staffing ratios and quality; waiting times in the emergency department; community outreach; and services that address the emotional needs of sick children and their families.

Parents, published monthly by Meredith Corporation, (also former publishers of the now defunct Child magazine) has been America's #1 family magazine for more than 80 years. Since its inception in 1926, it has been a trusted source by every generation of parents.

In addition to the overall ranking, Parents magazine also ranked Children's Hospital's emergency medicine, neonatology and pulmonology divisions number one in the nation and the Cardiac Center, Cancer Center and orthopaedics division ranked second.

Facts about the six ranked divisions:

Cardiac Center

The Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the world's largest and most experienced programs, with more than 24,000 outpatient visits and 1,500 admissions, more than 1,000 surgeries, 1,000 catheterizations and 53,000 diagnostic studies each year; patients are referred to the Center from across the nation and around the world. The program's high volumes of complex cases, along with the dedicated team of 500 professionals, correlate directly with its consistently exceptional record of outcomes. The Cardiac Center provides comprehensive services across the full continuum of care, from diagnosing a fetus with congenital heart disease to caring for them through adulthood.

Thanks to advances in care, many pioneered at CHOP, the first generation of children with previously fatal congenital heart disease are surviving - and thriving - into adulthood. In 2005, the Cardiac Center created the Philadelphia Adult Congenital Heart Center, in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Uniting the resources of a renowned pediatric heart program with a national leader in adult cardiac care, the Center offers comprehensive care to meet the unique needs of this rapidly growing population.

The Fetal Heart Program, one of only a few and the largest - of its kind in the U.S., attracting referrals from across the nation, has performed more than 2,000 fetal heart studies annually as it provides diagnoses, education and treatment plans. The newest addition to the Cardiac Center is the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit (SDU), the first birth facility in the world exclusively for babies with birth defects. It includes eight labor-delivery rooms and two operating rooms for c-section deliveries and fetal surgery. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect; approximately half the babies born in the SDU will be Fetal Heart Program babies. The newborns are evaluated by cardiologists and, if necessary, transported to the Evelyn and Daniel M. Tabas Cardiac Intensive Care Unit just down the hall.

Emergency Medicine

The CHOP Emergency Department (ED) provides safe and efficient, family-centered, high quality care to more than 80,000 critically ill, injured, or sick children each year. The ED is a 75-bed, state of the art facility; each patient room is private, designed for families' comfort and equipped with TVs and VCRs for education or entertainment. No patient is ever treated in a hallway and patients are never diverted. The ED has been designed to safeguard patients in the event of a bio-terrorism attack; it is equipped with three decontamination quarters to allow the team to care for whole families or critically ill children.

Emergency Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is multi-faceted and includes not just the care provided by the Emergency Department, but the life-saving interventions of the Poison Control Center, Trauma Team and Medical Transport Team. The ED team's commitment extends beyond delivery of care to injury prevention efforts and advocacy for all children.

Neonatology Division

The Harriet and Ronald Lassin Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit (N/IICU) at Children's Hospital continues to make significant advances in the field of neonatal medicine and the care of the most fragile infants. To meet rapidly growing demand, the N/IICU facility is expanding to a 75-bed unit, equipped with the latest technology and advances in neonatal medicine to care for neonates with all types of diseases. The team's clinical expertise has been recognized by regional providers as Children's Hospital operates NICUs at seven community hospitals. The board-certified N/IICU faculty are leaders in the field, clinically and in research. Patient volume at the main campus has grown to more than 1,000 admissions; about 20 percent of neonatal admissions come from beyond the metropolitan Philadelphia region. Children's Hospital is nationally recognized as a leader in the repair of congenital anomalies during the neonatal period.

The Neonatal Follow-Up Program monitors the physical and cognitive development of high-risk premature patients well into their childhood years, providing information, education and support for families. This program links with other clinics, provides referrals for early intervention and includes a program to promote early literacy.

Cancer Center

The mission of the Cancer Center at Children's Hospital is to provide the most skilled, compassionate care available. State-of-the-art facilities enable us to focus on the needs of both children and their families. The Cancer Center offers comprehensive, family-centered care with more than 40 pediatric oncologists with expertise spanning every form of childhood cancer, enabling us to provide more breadth and depth than any other pediatric cancer program in the country. Each year, we treat more than 500 new patients and follow more than 4,000 patients previously treated for childhood cancer.

In addition, Children's Hospital has launched a new Center for Childhood Cancer Research, bringing together the diverse talents of investigators from multiple disciplines with the goal of eradicating the problem of cancer in children. The Center pursues this goal through both basic and clinical research with the goal of incorporating research advancements into routine clinical care for children with cancer.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia also supports cancer survivors. The Cancer Survivorship Program cares for and tracks long-term survivors of childhood cancer, and conducts research to understand how cancer treatment can affect a patient many years later, making recommendations about how to mitigate harmful side effects.

Orthopaedic Division

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in pediatric orthopaedic patient care, education, and basic and clinical research; in fact, CHOP physicians have pioneered 16 orthopaedic surgical procedures and are internationally renowned for their skill in limb-sparing surgery, tumors, spines, hand, sports and trauma. The orthopaedic team provides a full-range of services from caring for children with common conditions such as sports injuries to those with the most complex musculoskeletal disorders such as cerebral palsy and bone tumors.

Each year, the team provides more than 62,000 outpatient visits in our orthopaedic and musculoskeletal programs, receives over 1,300 admissions and performs nearly 2,600 surgical cases. In addition to Main Campus, outpatient care is available at six Specialty Care Centers, and surgical procedures are offered at three Ambulatory Surgery Centers throughout the region. We have a broad referral network, with 16 percent of surgical cases coming from outside the Philadelphia region. The orthopaedics team has also expanded programs in neuromuscular, spine and cerebral palsy and established a world-class hand surgery program and are one of a handful of institutions that treat children with complex spine and chest wall deformities.

With orthopaedics at its core, Children's Hospital's unique Musculoskeletal Center, believed to be the only one of its kind in the nation, brings together a multidisciplinary team representing 10 pediatric subspecialties to provide seamless and comprehensive care for infants, children and young adults with congenital or acquired musculoskeletal conditions. This Center treats nearly 24,000 outpatients with the most complex musculoskeletal conditions such as limb deformities, spina bifida, and scoliosis.

Pulmonology Division

The Division of Pulmonology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is internationally known for being at the forefront of patient care and research into causes and treatments for the entire range of diseases affecting the lung, chest wall and control of respiration in children. These disorders include asthma, cystic fibrosis, sleep disorders, congenital lung disorders and chronic respiratory failure requiring home mechanical ventilation or other forms of technology. The Division has extensive expertise in managing complex end-stage lung diseases and in lung transplantation. The team believes in a holistic, multidisciplinary approach that utilizes the talents of many healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, nutritionists, respiratory therapists and physical therapists. These professionals work together to educate families and patients about their disorders, which in turn allows the team to partner with patients to achieve the best possible outcomes.

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking second in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.

Contact: Rachel Salis-Silverman Phone: (267) 426-6063 Salis@email.chop.edu

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Source: PR Newswire

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