Childrens Hospital ranks nationally

E.J. Wright was born with a rare heart defect. The pediatric cardiology team has been taking care of him for his entire life. Photo by Brennan Wesley
E.J. Wright was born with a rare heart defect. The pediatric cardiology team has been taking care of him for his entire life. Photo by Brennan Wesley writer Helen Adams

In what has been a memorable year on many fronts for MUSC Children’s Health, new rankings from U.S. News & World Report place the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in the No. 1 position for the state. The rankings come just four months after the hospital opened, and as South Carolina deals with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Four specialty programs within the hospital have been singled out by U.S. News & World Report for national recognition: cardiology and heart surgery, nephrology (kidney), gastroenterology and gastrointestinal (GI) surgery and cancer. U.S. News & World Report 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 children and their parents to the hospitals that are best equipped to treat them.

The cardiology program maintains its spot among the top 10 children’s heart programs in the United States. Criteria include children’s survival rate after complex heart surgery, 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 and GI surgery program is no stranger to the U.S. News rankings, either. For the 13th year in a row, it made the grade, coming in at No. 43.

The rankings factor in the survival rate for children who have liver transplants, the effectiveness of the hospital’s treatment of children who have inflammatory bowel issues and other key measures.