Although the US News has been ranking adult and children's hospitals separately for several years, adult programs are generally ranked differently than children's. Hammeran went on to explain that while adult medical specialties are ranked on more of a reputational score, pediatric scoring comes straight from survey results from a random sample of pediatricians. "It looks at outcomes, it looks at volumes and statistics, it has a ton of questions about our programs," says Hammeran. It's a very comprehensive survey that forms the basis of the majority of the score. They have a random sample of nation-wide pediatricians and they ask them to list the strongest hospitals."

Hammeran went on to describe the survey's scoring criteria: "The aforementioned survey covers 10 specialties, and we ranked in all 10. Nanothology (the care of newborns who have medical complications) was a stand out program, as we have some of the best survival rates of that group of infants." The hospital also ranked particularly high in cardiovascular sciences.

"It's a real challenge to get in that list and it's a great accomplishment when you make it," finished Hammeran. "It's the nation's elite children's hospitals-and it's a privilege to be in such a select group."