In its February issue, Child magazine named the University”s C.S. Mott Children”s Hospital to its list of the top 10 children”s hospitals in the nation.
- Paul Wong
- C.S. Mott Children”s Hospital recently was rated ninth in the country out of 178 accredited hospitals.<br><br>TOM LIN/Daily
Mott placed 9th out of the 178 accredited children”s hospitals.
Detroit”s Children”s Hospital of Michigan is ranked 6th in the nation because of their research and Child Life programs, including a pet-therapy program, which takes specially trained animals into the hospital to spend time with patients.
University Hospitals spokeswoman Kara Gavin said the competition between hospitals was very close.
Gavin said there were several things that set Mott apart from other children”s hospitals.
“We have very specialized facilities and have established programs based on team approaches. There is the idea that everything we do, we do in a coordinated way,” Gavin said.
Some of the reasons for the high ranking given by Child were Mott”s success in heart transplants, its assistance for children with lung and heart problems, its child-friendly pre-surgery procedures in which doctors run through a pretend surgery with children before the procedure to calm them, its pediatric trauma center and its strengths in treating face and skull birth defects.
Steven M. Donn, Director of Neonatal and Prenatal Medicine at Mott, was also featured in the magazine as a “doctor who makes a difference.”
“Donn is an extraordinary person,” Gavin said.
Donn was responsible for the hospital”s purchase in 1990 of an improved ventilator system for premature infants after he discovered the old ones were causing ruptured lungs and brain damage.
“He”s the one our hospital chose to showcase,” Gavin said.
University alum Alexa Canady was chosen to represent Children”s Hospital of Michigan. Canady is the chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the hospital and was the first black woman in the country to head such a department.
Child based their ranking on several factors, including information from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Washington, D.C., which provides an evaluation on all accredited health care associations. The commission accredited the University Hospitals in 1997. Mott was ranked in the top 50 by JCAHA.
Child assembled an advisory board of physicians from around the nation to develop a survey addressing issues from patient survival rates to programs designed to satisfy the emotional needs of patients.
Also ranked in the top 10 are The Children”s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children”s Hospital in Boston, Children”s Hospital and Regional Center in Seattle, The Children”s Hospital in Denver, Texas Children”s Hospital in Houston, Children”s Medical Center of Dallas, Children”s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego and The Medical University of South Carolina Children”s Hospital in Charleston.