You don’t have to tell us twice at World Pediatric Project! Our network of U.S. hospital partners across the United States allows World Pediatric Project to link more than 100 children annually with truly life-changing surgical care – a treasured opportunity for the patients and their families.

And the surgical care provided is world-class.

Weeks after publishing a commentary declaring U.S. children’s hospitals as national treasures and highlighting their ingenuity during the COVID-19 crisis, U.S. News and World Report released their rankings for the best children’s hospitals in the nation by medical specialty. This list of hospitals for 2020-2021 is an elite list of 88 who rank nationally in at least one of 10 pediatric specialties. 

U.S. News and World Report explains that these are our hospitals prepared to take care of the sickest children.

Our best of the best.

World Pediatric Project is proud to have partnerships with 6 of these exceptional hospitals for our U.S. Referrals Program. Many of these partners rank in more than one pediatric specialty. They collectively have provided 1,158 surgical procedures to World Pediatric Project patients. 

We congratulate them by celebrating some of the bright futures they’ve helped create. 

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University , ranking in the top 50 hospitals nationally in 4 pediatric specialties, was one of World Pediatric Project’s first partners at the inception of the U.S. Referrals Program and, on average, treats 30 patients for World Pediatric Project every year. Baby Isiah, an 8-month-old from the island of St. Lucia, is the most recent patient to come to Children’s Hospital of Richmond, arriving weeks before stay at home orders started in Virginia due to COVID-19. His condition was life-threatening, so he arrived in Richmond not a moment too soon, and he’s been in the expert care of a hospital ranked in 4 different pediatric specialties. Isiah has spent all of his young life in hospitals but is finally discharged and doing exciting things like eating banana for the first time! 

9-year-old Rivaldo from Dominica received a cardiac ablation last fall at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, another one of World Pediatric Project’s longtime partners whose cardiology and heart surgery program ranks #45 on this year’s list of the best. Rivaldo’s recent check-up back in Dominica showed that he’s fully recovered, doing great, and has his sight set on playing football. World Pediatric Project celebrates Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for achieving ranks in 5 other pediatric specialties. 

World Pediatric Project’s partner, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, is impressively ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News and World Report. Loany’s story is a testament to this hospital’s excellence. Loany is a cheerful 9-year-old from Honduras who lived her life with a complex congenital cardiac defect that often stopped her activity and limited what she could do at school. Having lived with this serious birth defect for so long, the surgery she needed brought a lot of risks. However, Loany was able to return home to Honduras just a little over a month after successful heart surgery at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, just in time for Christmas. 

World Pediatric Project also celebrates three amazing pediatric orthopedic partners listed as the top experts in the field on the 2020-2021 list.

Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis, ranked 6th for pediatric orthopedics, is World Pediatric Project’s busiest network partner. Last fiscal year, the hospital treated nearly 50 World Pediatric Project patients, and currently, seven children remain in St. Louis for treatment that has continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 19-year-old Jamika from St. Kitts is one of those patients who is steps away from returning home after a long journey to correct severe bowing of both legs. She has spent the last nine months in St. Louis with the expert team at Shriners Hospitals for Children so that she can soon walk confidently into her future free of such a debilitating condition. 

Shriners Hospitals for Children – Northern Californiaranks #33 in the nation and has been a partner with the U.S. Referrals Program since 2014. This hospital has opened its doors to 4 children from Belize over the years, including 14-year-old Asher, who had surgery for cerebral palsy last year so that his future could include better mobility.

Finally, our newest partner, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, who’s pediatric orthopedics program ranks 5th in the nation, welcomed its first World Pediatric Project patient in October 2019 for care with their orthopedic program that ranks in the top 5. 12-year-old Angel from Honduras, who suffered from a severe spinal deformity, left Dallas two months after surgery, standing taller. World Pediatric Project proudly recognizes these and all of our U.S. partner hospitals who make the U.S. Referrals Program possible. These are treasured partnerships, shining with excellence and full of promise for even more bright futures for children both in the U.S. and abroad.