Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital Ranked Among Nation’s Best

ILLINOIS — Four Illinois hospitals have made U.S. News and World Report’s inaugural list of the best children’s hospitals in the nation.

U.S. News included a state-by-state ranking in its list of the nation’s best children’s hospitals for the first time when it released its 2021 rankings on Tuesday, listing the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, Advocate Children's Hospital and OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois as the highest-rated pediatric hospitals in Illinois.

Illinois' top-rated children's hospitals:

• Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
  • State rank: 1
  • Total ranked specialties: 10
• University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital
  • State rank: 2
  • Total ranked specialties: 2
• Advocate Children's Hospital
  • State rank: 3 (tie)
  • Total ranked specialties: 1
• OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois
  • State rank: 3 (tie)
  • Total ranked specialties: 1

“This year’s new state and regional rankings can help families identify conveniently local hospitals capable of meeting their child’s needs,” Ben Harder, managing editor for U.S. News, said in a news release. “As the pandemic continues to affect travel, finding high-quality care close to home has never been more important.”

“We take great pride in the excellent care provided at Lurie Children’s, and the recognition from US News further validates this for us. We are grateful for our exceptionally talented people who do this work each and every day,” said Tom Shanley, president & CEO of Illinois' top-ranked children's hospital. “We are committed to advancing pediatric medicine and improving outcomes for children through innovative care and research and a strong focus on quality.”

U.S. News’ top-ranked children’s hospitals were also sorted by region this year. All rankings were found through a clinical survey sent to about 200 hospitals nationwide and another survey that included input from more than 100 pediatric medical experts, U.S. News said.

Specifically, researchers looked at three categories — clinical outcomes, coordination of care and care-related resources — in determining the rankings. All data used in the rankings came from before the coronavirus outbreak became a pandemic, according to U.S. News.

The top-rated hospital in the Midwest is the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, according to U.S. News.

In the mid-Atlantic region, the top children’s hospital is Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Boston Children’s Hospital in New England; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the Pacific region; Children’s Hospital Colorado in the Rocky Mountains; a tie between Children’s Hospital of Atlanta and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital of Vanderbilt in the Southeast; and Texas Children’s Hospital in the Southwest.

Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in Palo Alto, California, also made the U.S. News children’s hospital honor roll.

The nation’s top children’s hospitals in specific specialties were also listed. Texas Children’s Hospital earned the top spot in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in pediatric cancer and Children’s National Hospital in neonatology.