Children's Hospital Boston Ranked #1 in More Specialties Than Any Other Children's Hospital in the Nation

First in Heart & Heart Surgery, Kidney, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Urology

BOSTON, June 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Children's Hospital Boston ranks first in more specialties than any other children's hospital in the nation according to the 2010-11 edition of Best Children's Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Boston Children's ranks first in Heart & Heart Surgery, Kidney, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Urology. The "Best Children's Hospitals" ranking will be published in the August print issue of U.S. News & World Report.

Boston Children's is the only hospital to place in the top three in all 10 specialties. It ranks second in Diabetes & Endocrinology and Neonatology and third in Cancer, Gastroenterology and Pulmonary. Unlike the rankings in previous years, this edition does not numerically rank the overall institutions, instead it lists an Honor Roll of the 8 hospitals that rank in all 10 specialties. In all, 62 different hospitals are ranked in at least one specialty.

"We're honored by this recognition, but we also see this as a challenge to innovate and push care forward, offering families the best quality care and service possible," says James Mandell, M.D., CEO of Children's Hospital Boston.

"The rankings reflect the unique value that our team of caregivers, researchers, employees and volunteers strive to provide to our families everyday," said Sandra Fenwick, President and COO of Children's Hospital Boston.

With the assistance of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, U.S. News & World Report asked 170 pediatric centers to complete a 75-page online survey. RTI International, a research and consulting firm oversaw the survey. A hospital's rank depended on how well it did in three areas: reputation, medical outcomes (such as cancer survival), and care-related indicators of quality (such as the number of patients, nurse staffing, and availability of specialized programs).

Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is one of the nation's leading pediatric medical centers, the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and the largest provider of health care to Massachusetts children. In addition to 396 pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds and more than 100 outpatient programs, Children's houses the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 members of the Institute of Medicine and 13 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.

SOURCE Children's Hospital Boston