U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) released its 2020-21 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings this week. In the category of best hospitals for pediatric cancer, Children’s Hospital Colorado was ranked ninth in the country. Pediatric cancer services are provided by University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine faculty who many are members of the CU Cancer Center.
This is the only top 10 pediatric oncology program in the 12 surrounding states and covering almost a 1,000-mile radius. This program impacts the entire Western United States from Canada to Mexico.
“To me, what really matters is that our patients can get the absolute best care close to home,” said Lia Gore, MD, CU Cancer Center member, division head of pediatric hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplant-cellular therapeutics at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “It is a real privilege to work in a center that emphasizes delivering the best, most current, cutting edge care for children with complex diagnosis. To be able to do that on a campus that supports multi-disciplinary, scientific research that crosses the lifespan and directly benefit people is simply incredible.”
Data points were submitted from 99 pediatric medical centers covering their cancer programs and treatment offerings. A majority of the score, 85%, is based on data about specialized programs and services, accreditations such as FACT (Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy), patient volumes, infection prevention, bone marrow transplant services as well as 5-year survival rates for brain tumors, neuroblastoma and leukemias. The remaining 15% of the ranking comes from expert opinions from surveys gathered in 2018, 2019 and 2020 from pediatric specialists and subspecialists nationally.
“We are thrilled to again be a top ten cancer center in the USNWR rankings – This is a highly competitive field with many excellent programs, mostly on the East and West coasts, so the recognition of our program is a real honor,” said Gore. “Our team is leading the way in a number of areas in cancer and blood disease care in the nation, if not the world. People should not have to travel far when they are facing diagnoses like the ones we treat. I am so proud of our entire program for always making patients and their families the first priority and for helping to build the science behind better and more cures.”
The annual U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings was introduced in 2007 and offers guidance for families of children seeking the best medical care for rare or life-threatening illnesses. They look at 10 specialties surveyed on nearly 2,000 data questions as well as a reputation survey sent to thousands of pediatric specialists nationwide.
Visit the U.S. News site for a complete list of the rankings and the full methodology.
