Ft. Lauderdale, FL.,- October 3, 2016 – The Women’s Choice Award®, America’s trusted referral source for the best in healthcare, has recognized a select group of 54 out of almost 100 children’s hospitals that submitted data as Best for 2017. This designation identifies the country’s best children’s hospitals by recognizing facilities that provide important pediatric services, maintain a low ratio of beds per Board Certified pediatric professional (for 11 different specialties), and have high levels of professional, nursing and support staff. Each of the almost 100 children’s hospitals in the nation that submitted self-reported data was carefully evaluated and awarded points for each desirable quality with only the highest-scoring earning the award.

“We are releasing our list of Best Children’s Hospitals on Child Health Day to raise awareness of the top quality care offered for all children, not only the critically ill,” said Delia Passi, founder and CEO of the Women’s Choice Award, and former publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines.

In a survey conducted by the Women’s Choice Award, 75% percent of women associate children’s hospitals with care for seriously ill children and nearly 50% of women are unfamiliar with the offerings of a children’s hospital.

 

“Women are not leveraging children’s hospitals because there is a perception that care is provided for only the seriously ill,” said Passi. “Our goal is to change that perception and to have moms—and parents—make educated, confident decisions about where to take their sons and daughters for services ranging from asthma to orthopedics in a child-centric environment that offers specialists, services and technologies for children’s unique needs.”

John Lauck, President & CEO of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, is proud to have his hospitals appear on the list. “Thirty of the children’s hospitals recognized by the Women’s Choice Award are Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals,” he said. “CMN Hospitals are leaders in care and treatment in their communities and being acknowledged by Women’s Choice Award highlights this commitment. These hospitals rely on community donations to support their child-specific equipment, technology, research and life-saving treatments.”

The 2017 Best Children’s Hospitals represent those that have met the highest standards for childcare. This designation is based on a point system that includes information provided by almost 100 children’s hospitals in the nation, which included the following services and criteria:

• Family Centered Care
• Family sleeping/living accommodations
• Dedicated pediatric emergency department
• Pediatric ICU
• Neonatal ICU
• Child Life specialists
• Use of telehealth technologies
• Participation in pediatric health research
• Accreditation by the Joint Commission
• Pediatric Trauma Center accreditation

For each of the above criteria that a hospital met, they received five points to towards their score, with the exception of NICU, which earns five points for a Level IV and two points for a Level III. A maximum of 50 points could be earned for these services. Points were also assigned to a hospital based on the number of beds per board certified pediatric professional in the following specialties: Anesthesiology, Radiology, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Pulmonology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Urology, Oncology and Neonatology.

Points of 5, 3, 1, and 0 are assigned based on the relative number of beds per physician, with those having the least average beds, scoring the most points. Each of the results was also weighted based on the average beds per physician for all the reporting hospitals. Lastly, up to six additional points were provided for high levels of professional, nursing and support staff.

The following elite facilities are among Best Children’s Hospitals and carry the Women’s Choice Award seal, signifying extraordinary patient experience for women and their families:

• Broward Health Children’s Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, FL 
• Children's Hospital & Medical Center, Omaha, NE
• Children’s Medical Center at Winthrop-University Hospital, Mineola, NY
• Cohen Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY
• Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, CT
• Dayton Children's Hospital, Dayton, OH
• Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL
• Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA
• St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA

 

For more information on the 2017 Best Children’s Hospitals visit http://www.womenschoiceaward.com/best-childrens-hospitals/

ABOUT THE WOMEN’S CHOICE AWARD®

The Women’s Choice Award® is a trusted referral source, empowering women to make smart healthcare choices by identifying the country’s best healthcare institutions based on robust criteria. The Women’s Choice Award was recently honored by the INC 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies in 2016 for a second consecutive year, as well as selected from more than 500 nominees for Florida Companies to Watch in 2015, a statewide program managed by GrowFL which celebrates Florida’s top second stage companies. Visit http://www.womenschoiceaward.com/ to learn more.