Nine N.Y. hospitals earn spots on U.S. News' ‘top 50’ list

They are medical centers that serve some of the youngest and most fragile of patients, ranging from tiny premature babies to teens suffering from debilitating diseases.

Nine New York area hospitals placed in the top 50 in the country in at least one medical specialty, according to annual rankings released Tuesday by U.S News & World Report.

“We know how desperate parents are for information when their child is in the middle of a major medical crisis and decisions have to be made fast,” said Avery Comarow, health rankings editor at U.S News & World Report.

The magazine’s researchers evaluated 183 children’s hospitals across the nation and determined how they ranked among 10 specialties that include cancer, neonatology, cardiology and heart surgery.

New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley-Komansky Children's Hospital ranked in the top 50 for all 10 specialties, reaching No. 9 in the nation for both neonatology and diabetes/endocrinology.

The rigorous analysis was based on data from the hospitals as well as a survey of pediatric specialists.

“It says something about a real commitment to care that more than 100 children’s hospitals voluntarily completed our clinical survey,” Comarow said. “It is very long and complicated. We’ve been told it costs a hospital tens of thousands of dollars in staff time.”

 

Three local hospitals made the top 50 rankings in seven categories: the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, L.I.; Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in Manhattan, and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx.

Cohen was ranked 13th nationally for urology, while Mount Sinai ranked 21st for pulmonology and urology and Montefiore ranked 17th for nephrology.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was ranked 14th in the nation for pediatric cancer care. Other New York metropolitan area hospitals that ranked in the top 50 in at least one category included Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester County; Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, L.I.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., and Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital in Connecticut.

Analysts also put together an annual Honor Roll for hospitals with exceptionally high scores in three or more specialties. This year’s list includes 11 hospitals, leading off with Boston Children’s Hospital followed by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.