Parents magazine today named Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health one of the top pediatric standouts in the United States. The magazine ranked Riley at IU Health 11th overall and extended particular recognition to the hospital in two pediatric specialty areas, ranking it 4th in the nation in neonatal care, and 7th in pulmonary care.
Riley at IU Health was the only Indiana children’s hospital to be included in the magazine’s rankings of overall quality and specialty care, which considered everything from family-friendliness of facilities to treatment success and groundbreaking research in key areas.
In addition to this recognition by Parents magazine, Riley at IU Health is nationally recognized by U.S.News & World Report, and ranked in 10 out of 10 pediatric specialties in the publication’s 2012-2013 edition of Best Children’s Hospitals.
“We are proud to be honored by Parents magazine,” said Dr. Jeff Sperring, president and chief executive officer of Riley at IU Health. “This type of outside recognition earned by our hospital and our neonatal and pulmonary care teams speaks to the deep commitment of our physicians, nurses, researchers and staff to providing the highest level of care to the children and families that we serve every day.”
Judged to be among the nation’s elite by Parents magazine, Riley at IU Health’s neonatal care team routinely cares for newborns and infants facing the most complex medical and surgical problems. Staffed round-the-clock by experts, Riley at IU Health’s Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is equipped to deliver the highest level of care, any time-day or night. Accordingly, a large proportion of its patients are transported from hospitals throughout the state. This summer, Riley at IU Health will unveil a new NICU in the Simon Family Tower – complete with 60 private rooms, each with a designated parent sleep space – strengthening the hospital’s longstanding tradition of providing family-centered care.
Ranked 7th in country by Parents magazine, Riley at IU Health’s pulmonary care team is nationally recognized for the diagnosis and treatment of infants, children and adolescents with asthma, cystic fibrosis and other complex breathing disorders. The hospital’s pediatric pulmonary program is home to the world’s largest pediatric sleep disorders center and one of the largest cystic fibrosis centers in the country. The team is actively studying ways to stave off lung damage in children suffering from cystic fibrosis and other lung conditions, and its pediatric asthma research has accelerated the availability of innovative treatments to certain patients with the condition. The program’s high-risk asthma clinic – aimed at children and teens whose asthma is the cause of frequent hospitalizations and life-threatening episodes – has reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits among those patients by more than 50 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
The Parents magazine rankings are now available online and will be published in the March 2013 print issue. Since 2009, the last time the publication released its rankings, Riley at IU Health has moved up in the standings from 16th to 11th overall. The rankings, generated by Parents editors with input from a team of medical advisers, were based on numerous factors derived from children’s hospitals’ responses to a comprehensive survey. All surveyed hospitals were members of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions.