For the 14th year in a row, the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s best pediatric hospitals.
In the 2021-2022 Best Children’s Hospitals list, Neonatology, Pediatric Cancer and Gastroenterology and GI Surgery rank among the top 20 programs in the country and Nephrology and Neurology and Neurosurgery are in the top 50. CHAM is also highlighted as the number three children’s hospital in New York, a new accolade to help families find the highest quality care in the region.
“As we mark CHAM’s 20th anniversary, we couldn’t be more proud of our colleagues who heroically provide the most advanced and specialized care to children with a wide range of health challenges,” said Dr. Michael Cabana, physician-in-chief at CHAM and The Michael I. Cohen, M.D., university chair, Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
This year, the specialty of Neonatology at CHAM ranks as number 19 in the country for the outstanding and compassionate care delivered to the most fragile newborns, enabling them to grow and thrive. Patients like 20-year-old Skye Saunders, who was born at 24 weeks and battled multiple medical issues, including brain bleeds and vision impairment.
Today, she is a junior at Purchase College, where she recently received an award for community service, academic accomplishments and her ability to overcome obstacles. Saunders, a mentor to children with disabilities, who is graduating from college early with a double major in journalism and history, is a testament to the CHAM neonatology team and her family.
“The earlier babies are born, the more health, behavioral and developmental problems they tend to experience,” said Dr. Deborah Campbell, chief of Neonatology, CHAM and Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “Our goal is to partner with and empower our families to be active participants in the multidisciplinary team of experts; providing the best possible care for infants and giving them a solid foundation for achieving lifelong health.”
In the Bronx, one in 10 babies are born preterm, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. The rate of preterm births is highest for Black infants (11.5%), followed by Hispanic babies (9.7%). These babies can be very small, having a low birth weight and immature organs, requiring sophisticated therapies to help them breathe and feed. Every year, the Neonatology team at CHAM successfully cares for hundreds of seriously ill newborns from the Bronx and throughout the Hudson Valley.
For the 2021-2022 Best Children’s Hospitals list, U.S. News gathered data from 118 children’s hospitals in early 2020 and from pediatric physicians and other healthcare organizations in 2021. Data collection from children’s hospitals was not repeated in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Best Children’s Hospitals methodology includes objective measures, such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as compliance with best practices.
