Holding strong atop Iowa, UI Children’s Hospital slips in new national rankings

‘A testament to the skill and compassion of our care teams and the difference they’ve made’

The University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in Iowa to make the U.S. News & World Report's top 50 rankings released Tuesday, although it has been losing ground. The four highly ranked areas are down from six ranked specialties last year, eight in 2016 and nine in 2015. The entryway to the new Children's Hospital, above, is shown Nov. 5, 2016, during an open house. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

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IOWA CITY — While maintaining its top ranking as Iowa’s best children’s hospital, according to U.S. News & World Report, the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital lost ground in new 2025-26 national rankings released Tuesday.

Instead of ranking in the top 50 nationally in nine of 11 pediatric care specialties — like it did last year — the UI Children’s Hospital in the new edition made the top 50 in six of 11 specialties.

It fell out of the top 50 in pediatric orthopedics, ranking 50th last year; pediatric cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery, placing 47th last year; and pediatric neurology and neurosurgery, coming in 40th last year.

The six pediatric specialties in which UIHC maintained a top-50 spot this year include:

Neonatology at No. 19, up two positions from No. 21 last year;
Diabetes and endocrinology at No. 33, down from No. 25;
Urology at No. 36, down from No. 34;
Nephrology at No. 38, down from No. 32;
Cancer at No. 48, down from No. 41;
And pediatric and adolescent behavioral health, which is ranked differently — giving all hospitals in the top 50 equal recognition as top-50 institutions in the specialty.

In the Midwest region of 13 states — from Ohio on the east, Nebraska to the west, North Dakota and Minnesota to the north and Missouri to the south — Iowa ranked No. 12, down one spot from No. 11 last year.

UIHC’s Children Hospital has received national recognition in the top-50 rankings since U.S. News launched its pediatric hospital rankings in 2007 to help families find the best fit for their children's’ needs.

“The continued recognition of our children’s hospital as a leader in pediatric health care is a testament to the skill and compassion of our care teams and the difference they’ve made in the lives of countless young Iowans,” Jim Leste, chief administrative officer of Stead Family Children’s Hospital said in a statement. “Parents can trust that when their family needs us, we will provide them with the excellent care they’ve come to expect.”

‘Place their trust in us’

For this year’s rankings, U.S. News evaluated 118 hospitals in at least one specialty — with 86 rankings in one or more areas of pediatric care.

One-third of a hospital’s score is based on outcomes like survival, infection, and surgical complication rates; 10 percent is based on an annual expert opinion survey of pediatric specialists in each area; and the rest is tied to a hospital’s commitment to patient safety, excellence, and family centeredness.

“Experts' opinions can reflect important information that isn't evident in objective measurements,” U.S. News said about why it includes that subjective measure in its rankings. “That's especially true in a field as full of nuance and complexity like the medical care of very sick children. Physicians are asked to nominate up to five hospitals where they would refer their sickest patients. We feel the experience of these pediatric specialists actively caring for seriously ill children add to the objective measures that form the basis for the rankings.”

U.S. News’ top 10 children’s hospitals — which it doesn’t order but simply lists alphabetically — includes Cincinnati Children’s and Nationwide Children’s hospitals, which are tied for No. 1 in Iowa’s Midwest region.

Tied for No. 3 in the Midwest are two more Ohio hospitals in the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital and Rainbow Babies and Children’s in Cleveland — along with the Mayo Clinic, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and others.

University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at No. 9 is the only Big Ten-associated pediatric hospital ranked above the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital in the Midwest. In the Pacific region, the Big Ten’s University of California-Los Angeles Mattel Children’s Hospital earned recognition at No. 6.

Alexander Bassuk, physician-in-chief of the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and chair and departmental executive officer of its Department of Pediatrics, said the rankings, “affirm our commitment to improving children's health — through world-class clinical care, pioneering research that leads to new cures and insights, and the education of future pediatricians and pediatric scientists.

“Families place their trust in us to guide them through every health challenge with compassion, expertise, and hope.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

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