MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the second consecutive year, WVU Medicine Children’s has been named the top children’s hospital in West Virginia by U.S. News & World Report. The Hospital’s Pediatric Urology Program received its fifth-consecutive national ranking, taking the 41st spot in the country. 
“It is an honor to be named the top children’s hospital in West Virginia as well as to receive national recognition for our Pediatric Urology program,” Michael Grace, president of West Virginia University Hospitals, said. “I am extremely proud of all of the physicians, providers, and care team members at WVU Medicine Children’s, especially as we prepare to move into our new Children’s Hospital this fall.”
The annual Best Children’s Hospitals rankings and ratings, now in their 16th year, are designed to assist families and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions.
WVU Medicine Children’s has the only comprehensive pediatric urology service with fellowship-trained physicians in the state. The pediatric urologists at WVU Medicine Children’s have special expertise in the management of all congenital anomalies of the genitourinary system, kidney stones, neurogenic bladder, and dysfunctional voiding. It is also the state’s only pediatric urology practice offering robotic surgery.
“No longer are parents from West Virginia and the surrounding region traveling great distances out of the area to find the specialized care their children need, but we have families from other states coming here to Morgantown to get care they cannot find close to their homes,” Osama Al-Omar, M.D., M.B.A., chief of Pediatric Urology at WVU Medicine Children’s, said. “This national recognition from U.S. News & World Report proves that we are among the premier institutions in the country – a fact that is made possible by the dedicated team of physicians, nurses, and staff who care for our patients every day.”
For 2022-23, U.S. News ranked the top 50 centers in each of these 10 pediatric specialties: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery; neonatology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopaedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; and urology. For the second year, the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings featured expanded offerings that include state rankings and multi-state regional rankings.
“Choosing the right hospital for a sick child is a critical decision for many parents,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said. “The Best Children’s Hospitals rankings spotlight hospitals that excel in specialized care.”
The Best Children's Hospitals methodology factors objective measures such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as health equity and available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. To calculate the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, U.S. News gathered relevant data from children’s hospitals in early 2022 and from pediatric physicians and other healthcare organizations as well as available clinical resources, compliance with best practices, and efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion among patients and staff in 2022.
RTI International, a North Carolina-based research and consulting firm, collected and analyzed data from 119 children’s hospitals and surveyed thousands of pediatric specialists. More than 100 pediatric specialists and other experts provided input through methodology working groups.
For more information on WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, visit WVUKids.com.