Survey gives high rank to UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital

Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA ranks No. 21 among the nation's pediatric hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual survey of pediatric facilities in the U.S.

The ranking is published in the magazine's Sept. 3 "America's Best Children's Hospitals" issue, on newsstands now and available online at www.health.usnews.com/pediatrics.

According to the magazine, to be eligible for the rankings a medical facility had to be classified by the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions as a freestanding children's hospital or a "hospital within a hospital," that is, a large, multidisciplinary pediatric service within a medical center.

Of the 122 children's hospitals that met this standard, 113 responded to the magazine survey asking for data on a variety of procedures, including the number of bone marrow transplants performed and the availability of technology services such as advanced imaging and precisely guided radioscopy. Thirty of these facilities made the final cut.

The survey also weighed in reputation, death rates and such care-related factors as volume, nursing care, advanced technology and recognition by outside organizations.

Mattel Children's Hospital is a component of UCLA Medical Center and provides a full spectrum of primary and specialized medical care for infants, children and adolescents.