Children's Named Top 10 for Cardiac Care.

Hospital Listed as Top 25 for Pediatrics by Child magazine

DALLAS -- Children in North Texas have access to some of the best pediatric cardiac care in the country, according to a new survey by prestigious parenting publication Child. In the February issue, Children's Medical Center Dallas is honored as a top 10 hospital for its pediatric cardiac services, recognizing the hospital's commitment to top-notch subspecialty care. Additionally, Children's was named a top 25 hospital for overall pediatrics, and was one of only two in Texas to make the list.

"Children's is honored to be recognized among the nation's best pediatric hospitals by Child magazine," said Christopher J. Durovich, president and CEO. "Our employees and medical staff dedicate themselves to providing world-class pediatric care to our community every hour of every day. We are pleased to be recognized among this prestigious group of hospitals, and we share that honor with the children and families we serve."

Children's was compared with more than 116 hospitals that are members of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. The publication took into consideration the hospitals' individual evaluations from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), an independent agency that subjects healthcare institutions to rigorous examinations of their treatment protocols, recordkeeping, dispensing of medication, and dozens of other crucial areas to ensure excellent patient care.

Child reviewed medical information including survival rates, the number of complex procedures and intricate surgeries conducted, volume of research studies, efforts to reduce medical errors, and the quality and training of the doctors and nurses -- as well as child-friendliness, support for families, and community involvement. The responses were graded to determine the best hospitals overall and the leaders in six pediatric subspecialty areas.

"Child readers rely on our magazine's objective opinion and extensive research to help make all-important decisions on where to get care for their children," said Miriam Arond, editor in chief of Child magazine. "We spent nine months evaluating hospitals based solely on their quantifiable performance, and we are confident the hospitals named deliver superior care."

The results of the comprehensive survey appear in the February 2007 issue of Child magazine on newsstands nationwide January 9th.

Children's Medical Center Dallas is private, not-for-profit, and is one of the largest pediatric healthcare providers in the nation. As the only academic healthcare facility in North Texas dedicated exclusively to the comprehensive care of children from birth to age 18, Children's provides patient care ranging from simple eye exams to specialized treatment in areas such as heart disease, hematology-oncology and cystic fibrosis. In addition, Children's is a major pediatric kidney, liver, intestine, heart and bone marrow transplant center. As the primary pediatric teaching facility for The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, the medical staff at Children's conducts research that is instrumental in developing treatments, therapies, and greater understanding of pediatric diseases.

Children's is licensed for 406 beds and has more than 50 subspecialty programs. The hospital is the only designated Level I trauma center for pediatrics in the Southwest. To better serve the region's growing pediatric population, the 72-bed Children's Medical Center Legacy will open in 2008 in Plano, Texas.

Children's enjoys a stellar reputation as one of the finest pediatric facilities in the United States. The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations awarded Children's an "outstanding" ranking, and both U.S.News & World Report and Child magazines have named Children's as one of the nation's top pediatric providers. In 2006, the Dallas Business Journal recognized Children's as a "Best Place to Work."