US News & World Report ranks UI Health Care for best children’s hospital in Iowa

University of Iowa Health Care’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital has been recognized in nine pediatric specialties in the 2024-25 “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings by U.S. News & World Report. As announced in a release from UI Health Care, the hospital was also ranked first in the state. 

As the only nationally ranked children’s hospital in Iowa, Stead Family Children’s Hospital achieved rankings in the following specialties:

• No. 21 in neonatology   

• No. 25 in pediatric diabetes and endocrinology 

• No. 32 in pediatric nephrology 

• No. 34 in pediatric urology 

• No. 40 in pediatric neurology and neurosurgery 

• No. 41 in pediatric cancer 

• No. 47 in pediatric cardiology, heart and vascular surgery 

• No. 50 in pediatric orthopedics 

• Top 50 in pediatric and adolescent behavioral health  

In addition to specialty rankings, Stead Family Children’s Hospital ranks as the No. 1 children’s hospital in Iowa and No. 11 in the Midwest region, which includes Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

This year, the hospital also earned a spot in the top 50 of a new category focused on pediatric and adolescent behavioral health, introduced by U.S. News for the first time in over 15 years.

Stead Family Children’s Hospital has been included in U.S. News rankings every year since the rankings began in 2007.

“Our long-standing leadership in pediatrics is a testament to the world-class team we have and their unwavering dedication to excellence in the care we provide,” said Jim Leste, chief administrative officer of Stead Family Children’s Hospital, in the release. “To be named in the inaugural year of a behavioral health ranking, especially when we’re seeing a greater need for these types of services, makes it clear that our care makes a difference in the lives of young Iowans.”

The “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings, now in their 18th year, aim to assist families and physicians in making informed decisions about specialized pediatric care, the release states.

U.S. News evaluates 11 pediatric specialties: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; urology; and pediatric and adolescent behavioral health. For the 2024-25 rankings, 88 of 198 children’s hospitals surveyed were ranked in at least one specialty.

The rankings are based on data collected and analyzed by RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, and consider factors such as clinical outcomes, hospital resources, adherence to best practices, and expert opinion from pediatric specialists.

“There are some things that we know for sure in health care. Patients want compassionate care that’s close to home. Professionals want to work somewhere where they can make a difference in patients’ lives and medicine,” said Alexander Bassuk, physician-in-chief of Stead Family Children’s Hospital and chair of the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics at the UI Carver College of Medicine, in the release. “These rankings show that UI Health Care continues to achieve its mission of changing medicine and changing lives. Our continued ranking with U.S. News is a point of pride for us.”