(Madera, California) – Valley Children’s is one of only 25 hospitals in the U.S. on Money.com’s Best Hospitals for Pediatrics list. Money.com, in partnership with The Leapfrog Group, announced 25 hospitals that earned this distinction for exceeding Leapfrog's standards for excellence in patient safety and experience.
“We are honored to be recognized for the expertise, dedication and commitment of our staff who deliver the safest quality of care that kids can rely on every single day,” says Dr. David Christensen, Valley Children’s senior vice president, chief physician executive and Valley Children’s Medical Group president. “Valley Children’s is continuously engaged in self reporting, as the process is an opportunity to self-examine and collaborate with other hospitals to ensure we share and implement the best practices for our patients – a commitment we have made for more than seven decades.”
Hospitals earning this distinction perform well on communicating with children and their families and ensuring they know how to report problems observed, offering a better experience for pediatric patients and their caregivers. They also appropriately monitor and reduce radiation doses when performing computed tomography (CT) scans on their pediatric patients. Care teams ensure safe medication ordering and administration for their patients, while also staffing their intensive care units (ICUs) with well-trained physicians.
Additionally, hospitals have demonstrated adherence to the following:
- National quality forum-endorsed safe practices
- Appropriate nurse staffing and skills
- Hand hygiene practices
- Timely response to never events and healthcare-associated infections
- Volume and safety measures of same-day procedures performed in outpatient departments and of same-day surgery areas
"This new list features one-of-a-kind selections that give readers an excellent look at one of the most important places to care for children," says Money's Executive Editor Mike Ayers. “We are proud to honor hospitals like Valley Children’s with this distinction.”
Valley Children’s has been recognized three times as a Top Children’s Hospital by The Leapfrog Group for excellence in patient safety and quality of care that is ranked among the best 5% in the nation for exceptional performance and putting patients first.
“In order for us to provide the best care, we must remain committed to constantly improving in order to stay ahead of the continual advancements in medicine, and we do that through transparency,” says Raed Khoury, Valley Children’s vice president of quality, patient safety and clinical value. “Transparency is the foundation of trust and how you get better is by talking about it in order to learn, teach and improve. We embraced this a long time ago, and it is really working well for us.”
This designation is one of many distinguished honors Valley Children’s has received that reinforces the pediatric healthcare network’s commitment to excellence. Valley Children’s was the first children’s hospital west of the Rockies to receive Magnet Nursing designation, the highest nursing benchmark in the world. U.S. News and World Report again named Valley Children’s one of the Best Children’s Hospitals in the country in six pediatric specialties. Valley Children’s is also part of an elite group of only 16 centers worldwide as a Designated Platinum Center of Excellence by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) for providing lifesaving treatment for failing heart and/or lung function.
Visit the Best Hospitals for Pediatrics here. For the complete methodology, click here.