10 best children’s hospitals, ranked by US News

By Morgan Haefner for Becker’s Hospital Review

U.S. News & World Report named Boston Children’s Hospital the best hospital in the nation for its 2020-21 pediatric rankings.

To create the 2020-21 list, U.S. News & World Report gathered clinical survey data from nearly 200 medical centers. Patient safety, infection prevention and nurse staffing are among the measures U.S. News evaluates. The publication also develops a hospital’s score by surveying more than 15,000 pediatric specialists who are asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

Here are the 10 hospitals on U.S. News‘ 2020-21 Honor Roll, which had the highest rankings across all specialties.

1. Boston Children’s Hospital
2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
3. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
4. Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston)
5. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
6. Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora)
7. Children’s National Hospital (Washington, D.C.)
8. Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, Ohio)
9. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
10. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.)

U.S. News also ranked the top five hospitals in selected specialties:

Pediatric cancer

1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
3. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
4. Texas Children’s Hospital
5. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Cardiology and heart surgery 

1. Texas Children’s Hospital
2. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
3. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
4. Boston Children’s Hospital
5. Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health (Indianapolis)

Neonatology

1. Children’s National Hospital
2. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
3. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford
4. Rady Children’s Hospital (San Diego)
5. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

To view U.S. News‘ full ranking methodology, click here.

To compare with last year’s rankings, click here.