MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital achieves national rankings in annual U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals
June 17, 2021
MUSC SJCH only children’s hospital in South Carolina to be ranked
New rankings from U.S. News & World Report’s (USNWR) 2021-22 Best Children’s Hospitals survey place the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital once again as the only children’s hospital in South Carolina to be ranked. The latest rankings are published online and come as the health care community continues to manage the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and vaccine efforts.
The leading specialties for MUSC Children’s Hospital include the following rankings: No. 12 for cardiology and heart surgery, No. 30 for nephrology, No. 42 for gastroenterology and GI surgery and No. 44 for cancer. USNWR issues the annual rankings “to help families with complex and rare conditions find the best medical care for their children,” according to the publication’s website. They’re designed to steer parents and caregivers to the hospitals that are best equipped to treat their children.
The 15th annual rankings highlight the top 50 U.S. pediatric hospitals in each of 10 specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.
“The U.S. News rankings indicate that MUSC Children’s Health is a viable regional and national choice for parents seeking care for their child,” said Mark A. Scheurer, M.D., MUSC Children’s Health chief of clinical services. “We’re working hard every day to transform the delivery of care to children and women in a safe and healing environment. These rankings are one of many measures that demonstrate what an outstanding team we have at MUSC.”
This is the 14th consecutive year that the 12th-ranked cardiology and heart surgery program has made the overall Best Children’s Hospitals list. Criteria include the survival rate of patients after complex heart surgeries along with the level of specialized staff, services and technologies and the ability to prevent infections.
The nephrology program at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital ranks No. 30 in the U.S. That means it excels when it comes to the survival rate of children who have kidney transplants, the management of dialysis and infection prevention and other factors. It maintains its status as the highest-ranked children’s kidney program in South Carolina.
The GI / GI surgery program is no stranger to the U.S. News rankings, either. For the 14th year in a row, it made the grade, coming in at No. 42, one spot higher than last year. The rankings factor in the survival rate for children who have had liver transplants, the effectiveness of the hospital’s treatment of children who have inflammatory bowel issues and other key measures. Like all of the rankings, the GI rankings also include input from specialists in the field who responded to U.S. News surveys and recommend the hospital for serious cases in GI care.
Finally, the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital’s cancer program ranks No. 44 on the list of Best Children’s Hospitals for Cancer. That’s based in part on the 5-year survival rate for children with leukemia-related cancer, bone marrow transplant services, programs for brain tumors and sarcomas and infection prevention.
A critical criterion measured by USNWR is outcomes. Seven of 10 MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital programs ranked in the top 50 nationally for the outcomes portion of their respective survey, including:
Heart #4
Nephrology #14
Cancer #15
Neurology / Neurosurgery #26
GI / GI Surgery #38
Orthopaedics #48
Pulmonary #49
New this year, U.S. News featured regional rankings, and MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital tied at #12 for the Southeast region, which is one of the most competitive pediatric regions in the country. Five of MUSC’s pediatric specialties ranked in the top 10: cardiology and cardiac surgery #2, nephrology #4, GI & GI surgery #7, cancer #8 and neurology and neurosurgery #10.
Current methodology combines clinical and operational data, results from a reputational survey of board-certified pediatric specialists and supplemental information from resources such as the National Cancer Institute. RTI International collects and analyzes the data for the rankings. The methodology reflects clinical outcomes, such as patient survival, infection rates and complications; the level and quality of hospital resources directly related to patient care, such as staffing, technology and special services; delivery of health care, such as programs that adhere to best practices and prevent infections; and expert opinion among pediatric specialists.
“Our MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital care team members continue to be recognized for the outstanding care they provide, even in challenging times,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO and vice president for Health Affairs, University. “The strength of our specialty outcomes is a testament to the quality of care our team members seek to provide to patients and their families on a daily basis.”
About MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion
The MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital (SJCH) consists of 250 beds and opened in February 2020 as a replacement facility for the MUSC Children’s Hospital built in the late 1980s and formerly located on Ashley Avenue. More than 200 care team members, MUSC leaders, administrators and family and patient representatives were instrumental in the concept, design and building of this facility. By providing the most advanced pediatric care possible in more than 26 specialty areas, in person or through a robust telehealth network, SJCH includes a Level 1 trauma center and Emergency Department, the state’s only pediatric burn center and solid-organ and bone marrow transplant programs, the state’s largest Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit, an advanced maternal fetal medicine center and a top-10 ranked U.S. News & World Report children’s heart program, which functions through a nationally unique statewide collaboration of pediatric heart surgeons and cardiologists.
Housed within the SJCH, the Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion (PTWP) seamlessly integrates children’s care and obstetrical services, thereby enhancing safety and improving outcomes in high-risk pregnancies. We understand that everyone plans for a healthy, normal birth, and for those who have that outcome, we want them to enjoy our top-notch labor and delivery care. Not all families have this opportunity, and they, too, deserve a place of compassion, expertise and excellent care. Working collaboratively with the advanced maternal fetal care center for families expecting babies with complex congenital birth defects and medical problems, PTWP care providers are one of only a handful of teams in the country able to offer couplet-care rooms, where newborns and mothers can recover together in an intensive-care setting.
