Brenner Children’s Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been named one of the top 30 best children’s hospitals in the nation by Child magazine.
“We are thrilled that Child magazine recognized our role in improving children’s health,” said Brenner Children’s Hospital Physician-In-Chief Jon S. Abramson, M.D. “We work each day to help raise the bar on the current standard of care delivered to our children nationwide. Our children deserve the very best care when they are ill and we want to make sure they get it.”
In their annual survey of children’s hospitals in the United States, Child magazine took the 100 full members of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions, narrowed the field to 54 and sent them a detailed 72-question survey. The survey asked the children’s hospitals about survival rates, staff qualifications, nurse-to-patient ratios and comforts such as Child Life specialists who use toys and games to ease a patient’s fears.
“We asked for specific data on three key areas of any hospital – the heart center, the neonatal intensive care unit and the cancer ward -- and ranked the top five hospitals in the nation in each of these areas as well,” said Maureen P. Sangiorgio, a medical reporter for Child magazine.
Founded in 1986, Brenner Children’s Hospital treats critically ill children from western North Carolina, as well as parts of Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Over 4,500 children are admitted to Brenner Children’s Hospital each year. In addition, more than 21,000 pediatric subspecialty visits occur annually at the hospital-based outpatient clinics. Children admitted to the children’s hospital suffer from a variety of serious conditions such as leukemia and congenial heart defects.
Brenner Children’s Hospital is staffed by over 75 full-time faculty with members representing the following pediatric subspecialties: adolescent medicine, allergy and immunology, anesthesiology, behavioral and development, cardiology, critical care, endocrinology, emergency medicine, gastroenterology, general pediatrics, genetics, hematology and oncology, infectious diseases, intensive care, neonatal/perinatal medicine, nephrology, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, pulmonology and radiology. In addition, pediatric surgical faculty include: general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopaedic, otolaryngology, reconstructive and plastic surgery, transplantation and urology subspecialities. Currently, the hospital has 37 pediatric residents in training to become board-certified pediatricians.
Comprised of a 160-bed inpatient unit, Brenner Children’s Hospital provides a full continuum of care with a pediatric emergency room, pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, rehabilitation services; and infant, children, and adolescent inpatient units and outpatient clinics. Physicians also conduct over 20 outreach clinics in 13 counties across western North Carolina and southern Virginia.
In addition to clinical care, the pediatric faculty conducts basic and clinical research into diseases that affect children. These studies are supported by federal, foundation and industrial funding.
For more information about the survey, visit Child magazine’s website at www.child.com.
Media Contact: Rae Beasley, (336) 716-6878, rabeasle@wfubmc.edu; Karen Richardson, 716-4453, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Barbara Hahn, 716-6877, bhahn@wfubmc.edu
Media Relations
Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587