Cohen Children's Medical Center again ranked best pediatric hospital in the state

For the second year in a row, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park the best pediatric hospital in the state.

The Northwell Health facility tied for the No. 1 spot with NewYork-Presbyterian Children's Hospital-Columbia and Cornell in Manhattan. Both hospitals also tied for fourth in the mid-Atlantic region and ranked among the top 50 nationally in 10 pediatric subspecialties, according to the report. 

Cohen Children's was recognized for its treatments in behavioral health; urology; pulmonology and lung surgery; orthopedics; neurology and neurosurgery; nephrology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; cancer; and neonatology. 

"We're very proud of the recognition," Carolyn Quinn, president of Cohen Children's Medical Center, said in a phone interview from a staff celebration on Tuesday night. "We love the work we do, we love the families we serve."

"There's commitment at the top of the house to ensure that we have resources to do what we need to do. That's technology, that's innovation really driving forward our mission," Quinn added. Cohen Children's recently was the first in New York to treat sickle cell disease with gene therapy, and last year performed Long Island's first pediatric heart transplant, according to a news release.

The hospital's top ranking reflects the firsthand experience of Rachel Graham, 35, and her family. The Oceanside mother of two is on Cohen's Family Partnership Council, a group of patient parents who serve as an advisory committee to the hospital. The hospital has treated her 4½-year-old son, Cooper, for retinoblastoma, a type of cancer, since he was 4 months old, she said. 

"We've been through some of the most frightening moments imaginable with Cooper. There is an enormous amount of trust involved when you hand your child over to a medical team, and they really earn that trust from us over and over again," she said.

U.S. News & World Report's regional children's hospital rankings recognized three other area medical centers, including Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone in Manhattan, Children's Hospital at Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in Manhattan.

Other recognized New York pediatric facilities include MSK Kids at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan for pediatric cancer treatment, and Lerner Children's Pavilion-Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan for orthopedics. 

U.S. News & World Report partnered with North Carolina-based research firm RTI International to survey about 200 hospitals around the country for the annual list, basing rankings on clinical outcomes, compliance with established best practices and resources available to patients, according to the media company. U.S. News & World Report has emphasized that rankings "should just be a starting point" for families researching medical care for their child. 

U.S. News & World Report is one among several hospital ratings systems, and experts advise doing research and consulting trusted providers when making decisions about care, Newsday has reported. 

The national recognition is "a great boost" to a hospital's staff and "families on Long Island and in Queens also should take comfort in knowing that Cohen, along with Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and others in the downstate region, are prepared to provide highly specialized services to pediatric patients," Wendy Darwell, president and CEO of the Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State, said in an email. "Every parent hopes their child will never need that level of care but when they do, it’s a relief to be able to access treatment close to home."

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.