Golisano Children’s Hospital among Nation’s Best in Nephrology, Endocrinology

UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital has earned a place among the nation’s best hospitals in two pediatric specialty areas – nephrology and endocrine/diabetes – in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospital rankings.

 

The 2015-2016 rankings, released online Tuesday, placed nephrology at No. 41 and endocrinology/diabetes at No. 42 out of 184 pediatric institutions nationwide. Both specialties earned spots in the top 50 for the first time.

“We’re on the verge of opening a new children’s hospital, and now we’ve got another thing to celebrate,” said Mark Taubman, M.D., CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “These divisions exemplify our focus on patient- and family-centered medicine, and we’re thrilled to be recognized nationally for the expert care that we provide.”

 

The Division of Pediatric Nephrology, which provides care for those with kidney disease and hypertension, has approximately 2,600 patient visits annually. Treating conditions such as hematuria, proteinuria, glomerulonephritis, fluid and electrolyte disorders, kidney stones, and kidney failure, the division has a team of six physicians, a pediatric nurse practitioner, and social worker, and over the past two years has added two new clinics for transplant screening and for premature babies with kidney problems who have graduated from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“We’ve really refined how we look at our patients on dialysis, and we’ve put extra effort into ensuring that our kidney transplant patients are getting their blood draws on a regular basis,” said George Schwartz, M.D., Chief of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology. “We have a great clinical group here.”

 

The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, which includes a dedicated Diabetes Center, offers a full range of diagnostic, treatment, and consulting services for the approximately 6,000 patients it treats annually, the vast majority of whom are outpatients. Working closely with families, the division helps children with endocrine disorders maintain their normal at-home routines as much as possible.

Some of the most common conditions treated by the division include type 1 and 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and Turner Syndrome. It has also combined efforts with colleagues in Gender Health Services, which offers a full spectrum of support to transgender youth and young adults. Made up of five physicians, three pediatric nurse practitioners, a psychologist, registered dietician, social worker, and new pediatric bone disease expert, the division offers the only multidisciplinary team of pediatric diabetes specialists in the Finger Lakes region.

 

“We have a wonderful group practice and have developed a system that works well for our families,” said Nicholas Jospe, M.D., Chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology. “We provide good person-centered care for people with intercurrent problems, which is particularly important for diabetes.”

The U.S. News and World Report rankings feature the 50 best children’s hospitals in each of 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, and urology. Over the past four years, Golisano Children’s Hospital has appeared in the top 50 in six different categories.

 

The rankings will appear in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2016 guidebook in September.