University of Iowa Children’s Hospital has been ranked in all 10 specialty areas in U.S.News & World Report’s 2012-13 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings.

UI Children’s Hospital ranked in neonatology (18); orthopedics (18); nephrology (21); neurology and neurosurgery (24); cardiology and heart surgery (29); gastroenterology (36); diabetes and endocrinology (42); pulmonology (44); cancer (50); and urology (50).

The rankings feature 50 hospitals in each of 10 pediatric specialties. Eighty hospitals across the country ranked in one or more specialties.

UI Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in Iowa to be nationally ranked by U.S.News & World Report for children’s care.

Thomas Scholz

“That we are consistently ranked among America’s top children’s hospitals truly symbolizes the care and dedication of our hospital staff,” says Thomas Scholz, M.D., interim physician-in-chief of UI Children’s Hospital and professor and interim head of the UI Department of Pediatrics. “This honor reflects our continuing commitment to patients and families to provide the best care possible throughout those specialties.”

For families of sick children, Best Children’s Hospitals provides unparalleled quality-related information in addition to rankings, including survival rates, adequacy of nurse staffing, procedure volume, and much more, Scholz says. Since their 2007 debut, the rankings have put an increasing emphasis on data that directly reflect hospitals’ performance over the opinions of physicians.

This year, U.S.News surveyed 178 pediatric centers to obtain hard data such as availability of key resources and ability to prevent complications and infections. The hospital survey made up 75 percent of the rankings. A separate reputational survey in which 1,500 pediatric specialists—150 in each specialty—were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty made up the remaining 25 percent.

“UI Children’s Hospital deserves high praise for its accomplishments,” says Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow. “UI Children’s Hospital has a reservoir of dedication and expertise that helps the sickest kids. Our goal at U.S.News is to identify and call attention to pediatric centers like this one.”

The full rankings and methodology are available at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals. The rankings will also be published in the U.S.News Best Hospitals 2013 guidebook, which will be available in August.