More than three million children are hospitalized annually. For parents, the problem is finding a good one and one you trust. Child magazine can help. The publication recently released the results of a new survey naming the country’s 10 top children's hospitals. Here’s an excerpt of the article:

The 10 Best Children’s Hospitals
Since 2001, Child has conducted a detailed, data-driven survey every other year to pinpoint which pediatric institutions provide the leading-edge medical treatments and care. Check out the winners, plus the top contenders in six specialty areas.

Shari DeCarlo was four hours into labor in a hospital in suburban Cleveland when her nurse noticed the baby’s heart rate wasn’t responding normally to contractions. “The pregnancy showed absolutely no signs of trouble and the baby wasn’t early — Shari’s due date had actually passed by two days,” says her husband, Michael Kerkel. But soon it became clear that something was very wrong — and that the hospital, which didn’t have a neonatal intensive care unit, wasn’t equipped to care for  the couple’s child.

DeCarlo had an emergency C-section and her doctors suggested that the 6 lb., 11 oz. baby girl—whom Kerkel says was “bright blue” at one point — be transferred to Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, one of two pediatric facilities in the city. “She was  so sick that they asked my  wife and me, ‘If we were to lose her on the way to Rainbow, would you want us to resuscitate her?’”

Day after day, in children’s hospitals across the country, parents face life-and-death decisions, choices they have to make knowing little about the hospital itself. Enter the Child magazine survey — the only data-driven comparison of the nation’s children’s hospitals, providing parents with crucial medical information that isn’t available anywhere else.

Our comprehensive 247-question survey, guided by the leading pediatric experts listed on page 100, examines vital medical infomation including survival rates, the number of complex procedures and intricate surgeries conducted, volume of research studies, efforts to reduce medical errors, and the quality and training of the doctors and nurses — as well as child-friendliness, support for families, and community involvement. It was sent to the 116 full members of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions last August. Seventy-six hospitals completed the survey. The responses were graded to determine the best hospitals overall and the leaders in six pediatric subspecialty areas. Among the trends we discovered when analyzing the surveys: More hospitals are using new technology to reduce medical mistakes. There’s also increased emphasis on keeping healthy kids well through community services like free vaccines, car seat checks, and violence-prevention efforts.

As for DeCarlo and Kerkel, their daughter survived the ride to Rainbow — and spent seven weeks in the hospital getting well. “We were thrust into a world we never knew existed,” says DeCarlo. 

You don’t have to be. Much of being a good parent involves being informed. Chances are your local hospitals deliver good care, but should your child have a critical or chronic condition, it’s crucial to know where the most advanced work is being done, where you might want to go for a second opinion, and what questions you need to ask. Read on for details about the winning hospitals, including a personal story about each one.

1. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Current Research Studies: 1,536
Cutting-Edge Treatments:Developed a newly approved vaccine for rotavirus, a virus that causes high fever, severe vomiting, diarrhea, and hospitalizations in up to 70,000 American kids under age 5 annually; pioneered new therapies to treat neuroblastoma, the most common cancerous solid tumor occurring during early childhood; and opened the world’s first center to collect and analyze DNA profiles on as many as 100,000 children to understand the genetic causes of childhood diseases.

Compassionate Care: Provides weekly movie nights with popcorn; a Sony PlayStation in 125 new rooms; an in-hospital TV station featuring shows like CHOP Idol (patients compete and vote in a singing competition à la American Idol); and more than 30 family support groups.

Community Focus: Offers a complete child-abuse and maltreatment center, establishing one of the nation’s first fellowship programs for the specialty; makes housecalls to pinpoint possible allergens for certain children with severe asthma; and checked more than 1,000 car seats in 2005 and trained 30 technicians how to do so.

It’s 3 a.m. in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Naomi Shapiro is holding her infant daughter, Eliana. The 2-month-old is recovering from a  delicate three-hour surgery to remove a tumor that occupied 40% of her chest. “Her doctor told me it was the equivalent of having an elephant stand on her,” says Shapiro. But on this night, Shapiro’s attention is divided between her own daughter and another child.

“I was startled by the whipping sound of helicopter blades, and moments later a team of people wheeled a baby who hadn’t even been cleaned yet into the NICU,” she recalls. “And I thought: ‘It’s 3 in the morning, what can they possibly do for this child now?’” A couple of minutes passed, and the surgeon who operated on Shapiro’s daughter examined the baby.

“It seemed he ordered a dozen or so tests, and, again, I thought, ‘How are you going to get them done at 3 in the morning?’” It wasn’t long after nurses started making calls that equipment began rolling into the NICU, recalls Shapiro. And a few hours later, the tests were done, the child had a diagnosis, the OR was on hold, and all the doctors were waiting for was consent from the father, who was still en route from the hospital where the baby was born. “At that moment, it dawned on me that this huge hospital is like a well-tuned orchestra, and every department, every service is in perfect synchrony.”   

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