The “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings also include state and multistate regional rankings. UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital ranks as the No. 1 children’s hospital in Iowa and No. 11 in the Midwest region, defined by U.S. News as Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital has been ranked every year since U.S. News launched the children’s hospital rankings in 2007.

“It’s a tribute to our providers and staff that we are included among America’s best children’s hospitals each year,” says Alexander Bassuk, MD, PhD, physician-in-chief of the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and chair and departmental executive officer of the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics in the UI Carver College of Medicine. “Our outstanding patient care programs help create opportunities for research that advances pediatric medicine, and they also provide unique learning experiences for medical students and trainees. U.S. News distinction is the result of collaborative efforts and the dedication and excellence of our people.”

The “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings, now in their 17th year, are designed to assist families and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive specialized pediatric care.

“As Iowa’s only comprehensive children’s hospital, families expect us to provide the very best care for their kids,” says Melissa Whisler, MBA, MHA, interim chief administrative officer of UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. “And that’s what we strive for across all our pediatric programs and specialties. We’re proud of our commitment to young patients at all age levels, and U.S. News recognition is a reflection of the strength of our commitment each and every day.”

About the rankings

U.S. News & World Report ranks the top 50 centers in 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery, and urology. For the 2023-24 rankings, 88 of the 199 children’s hospitals surveyed were ranked among the top 50 in at least one specialty.

RTI International, a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, collects and analyzes the data for the “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings. 

The “Best Children’s Hospitals” methodology factors objective measures such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as health equity and available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. To calculate the “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings, U.S. News gathered relevant data from children’s hospitals in early 2022 and from pediatric physicians and other health care organizations as well as available clinical resources, compliance with best practices, and efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion among patients and staff in 2022.