Newswise — Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has been named a level I pediatric surgery center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), becoming the first children’s hospital in Illinois to earn this status. Only two other pediatric hospitals in the country have achieved a level I verification -- awarded by a multi-organizational taskforce led by the ACS, the body responsible for setting the nation’s standards for quality of surgical care, practice and training.
To be verified as a level I surgery center, a children’s hospital must demonstrate it has the expertise, resources and capacity to deliver timely, safe, appropriate and multidisciplinary surgical care for even the most complex and rarest of cases. In addition to children’s surgeons, level I centers must have 24-7 availability of specialists in children’s anesthesiology, radiology, trauma and emergency medicine and provide round-the-clock critical and intensive care for children and infants of all ages, including severely premature newborns. A level I center must provide education, training, leadership and research in the field of pediatric surgery, and offer residency and fellowship training for the next generation of pediatric surgeons and surgical subspecialists.
“This is a milestone not only for Lurie Children’s but also for the field of pediatric surgery,” said Marleta Reynolds, M.D., surgeon-in-chief at Lurie Children’s, the Lydia J. Fredrickson Professor of Pediatric Surgery and professor of surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We are humbled and honored to be one of the first pediatric hospitals in the nation to achieve this.”The verification is valid for one year, and hospitals can reapply for recertification annually by submitting data on surgical performance, patient outcomes, patient safety and availability of surgical experts, subspecialists and clinical resources.
“Children are not little adults. Their delicate tissues require in-depth knowledge and specialized training, and this new verification system can help ensure that appropriate, safe and timely care is being provided to every child in the right setting with the right resources,” Fizan Abdullah, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of General Pediatric Surgery at Lurie Children’s and a national leader on quality and safety in pediatric surgery.
The ACS emphasizes that the different levels of verification are meant to capture the expertise and resources needed to deliver a certain level of surgical care, rather than to evaluate individual hospital performance. The verification is intended to differentiate between hospitals specializing in the surgical care of complex, rare and severe cases from those delivering high-quality but routine and less complex care.
The Department of Surgery at Lurie Children’s includes 10 pediatric surgical subspecialties, including neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, transplantation, plastic and reconstructive surgery, otolaryngology-head & neck surgery, general surgery, urology, orthopedic surgery, and dentistry. Lurie Children’s performs more pediatric operations than any other hospital in Chicago treating children across the age spectrum for conditions ranging from benign and common to complex, rare and life-threatening.
“Medicine is a team sport and our surgical program is the perfect illustration of that notion,” said Patrick Magoon, President and CEO of Lurie Children’s. “Our verification as a level-1 center is a testament to our surgeons’ pursuit of quality and safety.”
Lurie Children’s is one of the top children’s hospitals in the country according to USNews & World Report. It is the pediatric teaching ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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