Kosair pediatric cancer program ranked 6th in nation by U.S. News & World Report

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 15, 2012) — The cancer care program at Kosair Children’s Hospital was ranked No. 16 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Kosair Children’s also was rated among the top 50 children’s hospitals in the nation, out of 178 hospitals eligible to participate in the survey, in six other specialties, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012-13 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings.

Kosair Children’s Hospital ranked a full 29 places higher than last year’s cancer care ranking. The hospital also was ranked No. 24 in orthopaedics, 24 in pulmonology, 29 in neurology and neurosurgery, 31 in urology, 38 in cardiology and heart surgery, and 49 in nephrology.

“We are pleased and encouraged by our rankings in this year’s list of best children’s hospitals,” said Thomas D. Kmetz, division president, Women’s and Children’s Services, and president of Kosair Children’s Hospital.

The Addison Jo Blair Cancer Center at Kosair Children’s Hospital is the country’s oldest continually accredited children’s oncology program by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer (COC), holding accreditation since 1959. It is one of only 11 COC-accredited pediatric cancer programs in the country.

“Kosair Children’s Hospital deserves high praise for its accomplishments,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News & World Report health rankings editor. “Kosair 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.”

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

This year, U.S. News sent surveys to 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 of 1,500 pediatric specialists – 150 in each specialty – made up the remaining 25 percent. Specialists were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

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