Packard Children's Named One of Nation's Best by U.S. News; Highest-Ranked Pediatric Hospital in California.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford has again been named one of the top pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In its annual America's Best Hospitals issue (on newsstands July 10), the magazine's national survey of pediatricians places Packard Children's #13 among all pediatric hospitals nationwide. This ranking makes Packard Children's #1 among children's hospitals in California.

"It's a major distinction," said Christopher Dawes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, "and it recognizes what our faculty and staff have built and continue to build -- a nationally and internationally pre-eminent children's hospital." The hospital, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2006, "has accomplished a lot in a very short time," added Dawes, "and everyone at Packard Children's shares in this honor."

The pediatric teaching hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine is internationally known for innovations in education, research and patient care. Highlights over the past year include:

--The breaking of the North American pediatric heart assist record, allowing a 5-year-old to wait an additional 234 days for a successful heart transplant

--A double-transplant surgery on the youngest child to ever receive a new kidney and liver as treatment for methylmalonic acidemia, a deadly metabolic disorder

--The launch of the first telemedicine network in the nation to combat blindness in premature infants

--The country's first pediatric liver tumor excision via laparoscopy 

--California's first lap band bariatric surgery performed at a pediatric hospital

--The one-in-a-million birth of a healthy baby to a 37-pound mom born with a severe bone disorder

--The publication or presentation of groundbreaking research in areas ranging from the deployment of after-school sports programs to combat obesity; the effects of TV time on a child's test scores and their desire for advertised products; the long-term effects of pediatric brain tumors; the identification of a gene involved in the development of childhood schizophrenia; and a potential new treatment for cystic fibrosis 

Highly regarded by the health care industry, the U.S. News survey compares hospitals on a national scale to help consumers with their decision-making. Institutions are ranked in 16 specialties from cancer to urology to pediatrics. For the 2006 rankings, 200 board-certified pediatric specialists were selected at random from the American Medical Association's database and asked to name up to five hospitals they consider best in pediatrics for difficult cases, without considering cost or location.

"Our hospital is making amazing progress in innovating and translating discoveries in pediatrics," said Dawes. "The nation's pediatricians continue to recognize this, and we believe it's a wonderful tribute to our work."