Children's heart program No. 4 in country as hospital celebrates new rankings

The Pediatric & Congenital Heart Center at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital ranks a stellar No. 4 in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Best Children’s Hospitals survey.

“And if you look at just the outcome component of the score, we actually had the best outcome score of anywhere in the country, including the places whose overall rank was above us,” said cardiothoracic surgeon Scott Bradley, M.D. Outcomes refer to how well patients fared after treatment.

“We have a great team that’s incredibly collegial. We also benefit greatly from having a statewide pediatric cardiology network. It's called the Children's Heart Program of South Carolina and includes all of the pediatric cardiologists in the state. That supports us in that we're the only center that does cardiac surgery and cardiac catheterizations in the state,” Bradley said. 

That centralization means that surgical expertise isn’t diluted among multiple facilities but concentrated at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, Bradley said.

The heart program’s success is just part of the reason the hospital is celebrating this year’s U.S. News & World Report survey results. Three other specialties, kidney, cancer and gastrointestinal, achieved high rankings as well. And the hospital itself is the only children’s hospital in the state to be ranked by the survey.

Mark Scheurer, M.D., MUSC Children’s Health chief of clinical services, said the rankings can help families in the Southeast and beyond decide where to take their kids. “Our MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion care team members endlessly strive to offer safe, compassionate and advanced care to all families who seek treatment for their children. A parent can feel confident in choosing MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital to care for their child.”

David Zaas, M.D., CEO of MUSC Health-Charleston Division, agreed. He also noted the COVID-driven circumstances that have presented a series of new challenges. “I am so proud of the dedication this team demonstrates every day, and especially over the last two years as we have responded to the COVID pandemic. We are committed to improving the health of children in South Carolina and privileged to serve our community with these outstanding programs and amazing teams.” 

Read the full story on the MUSC news center.