Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been ranked ninth among 143 children’s hospitals and medical centers in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report magazine’s “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” in its June 9, 2008, issue now available on newsstands.

Physicians at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles are on the faculty at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been ranked among the nation’s best hospitals since the inception of the magazine’s rankings in 1990.

In addition to the top-10 ranking for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, all six of the specialty areas ranked this year for the first time by U.S. News & World Report were rated among the nation’s best: Cancer (9), Heart & Heart Surgery (11), Respiratory Disorders (11), Neurology & Neurosurgery (13), Neonatal Care (21) and Digestive Disorders (24).

“While we are pleased that we continue to be recognized as one of the top pediatric facilities in the United States in this survey, our priority will continue to be providing the very best medical and surgical care to the sickest, most seriously ill children, teaching the next generation of pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and pediatric nurses and conducting the research that will lead to new treatments and cures for diseases and conditions that afflict our children, like cancer, congenital heart defects, diabetes, sickle cell disease, immune deficiencies, respiratory disorders and more,” said Childrens Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Richard D. Cordova, FACHE. “We understand the enormous responsibility we have to the children and families we serve and to children everywhere.”

U.S. News & World Report invited 143 hospitals to complete its survey to be considered for ranking; 113 chose to do so. The basis for the rankings is a blend of reputation, outcomes (where available) and care-related measures (e.g., patient volume, nursing and credentialing).

For “Reputation,” the magazine’s editors surveyed 1,100 pediatricians by mail and asked them to name up to five centers they believe to be most successful with difficult cases in their specialty. They were chosen at random from the American Board of Medical Specialties’ database – 200 for general pediatrics and 150 for each of the six specialties. Depending on the specialty, reputation counted for 50 to 60 percent of the final score.

For “Outcome,” inpatient death rate was used in heart/heart surgery and in neurology/neurosurgery. That measure was not used for specialties that focus on outpatients – cancer, digestive disorders and respiratory disorders. The editors said that measures for neonatal are in progress. Where available, outcome counted for 10 percent of the score.

For “Care-Related Measures,” the editors used nurse staffing, the availability of important technologies and patient volume. These measures counted for 40 percent of the hospital’s score.

Three other children’s hospitals in California were ranked in the new survey: Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (12), Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA (16) and University of California, San Francisco Children’s Hospital (20).

The top-five children’s hospitals in the rankings were: Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (1), Children’s Hospital Boston (2), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (3), Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (4) and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland (5).

Complete rankings of hospitals and specialties are available here.

Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America’s premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. It is a national leader in pediatric research.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles treats 62,000 patients a year in its Emergency Department. It admits more than 11,000 children a year to the hospital, 50-percent children under four years of age. There are about 287,000 visits a year to its 29 outpatient clinics; nearly 2,800 visits at community sites through its Division of Adolescent Medicine. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is able to offer the optimum in multidisciplinary care, with more than 100 pediatric subspecialty services.

Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital Los Angeles one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation.