DALLAS, Sep 15, 2026 — Children’s Health℠, the leading pediatric health care system in North Texas, has once again been recognized among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report 2026-2027 “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings, earning recognition across all 11 pediatric specialties. It remains the only children’s hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth and the surrounding region recognized in every pediatric specialty.
This marks the ninth consecutive year and the 15th time since 2008 that Children’s Health Dallas has earned recognition across every pediatric specialty, reflecting the depth of expertise and specialized care available to children and families across the health system.
“This recognition is a testament to the extraordinary skill and commitment of our Children’s Health team members and our academic partners at UT Southwestern Medical Center,” said Christopher J. Durovich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Health. “It reflects our shared commitment to ensuring children and families have access to exceptional, highly specialized care. Together, we remain focused on our mission to make life better for children and meeting the evolving health care needs in North Texas and beyond.”
The U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings provide a national assessment of the top pediatric hospitals that provide innovative treatments, exceptional safety measures and incredible outcomes. The rankings also consider national reputation, based on surveys of pediatric specialists who identify the hospitals they believe are best equipped to care for children with the most serious and complex conditions.
“Through our collaboration with Children’s Health, we bring the strengths of academic medicine — clinical expertise, scientific discovery, and education — to advancing pediatric care,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern Medical Center. “This recognition reflects the expertise and dedication of our physicians and advanced practice providers and the teams they work with to provide compassionate, high-quality care to patients and families.”
The 11 pediatric specialties and Children’s Health Dallas’ national rankings in each area are as follows:
- Orthopedics*: No. 1
- Cardiology & Heart Surgery: No. 5
- Urology: No. 10
- Neonatology: No. 15
- Cancer: No. 17
- Neurology & Neurosurgery: No. 17
- Gastroenterology & GI Surgery: No. 20
- Pulmonology & Lung Surgery: No. 22
- Nephrology: No. 26
- Diabetes & Endocrinology: No. 35
- Behavioral Health**
*U.S. News includes Scottish Rite for Children in its evaluation of the performance of Children’s Health Dallas for Pediatric Orthopedics.
**The nation’s top 50 Pediatric and Adolescent Behavioral Health programs did not receive a numerical ranking.
Children’s Health Dallas U.S. News & World Report Highlights
- Recognized in all 11 pediatric specialties for the ninth consecutive year – the only children’s hospital in the region to achieve this distinction
- Ranked #2 in Texas
- Honored for the 15th time since 2008 as one of the nation’s top pediatric hospitals across all specialties
- Achieved three specialties ranked in the top ten and rank improvements in four pediatric specialties
*Region defined as Dallas-Fort Worth and its surrounding communities
About Children’s Health
Children’s Health is the leading pediatric health care system in North Texas and has long been recognized as a leader in pediatric health. Its campuses include Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Children’s Medical Center Plano and multiple Children’s Health Specialty Centers, caring for more than 370,000 patients each year. With more than 11,000 team members and nearly 2,000 medical and dental staff, Children’s Health provides more than $682 million in annual community benefit across North Texas.
In partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center, it is consistently recognized among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. This commitment to excellence and outstanding care has resulted in recognition across all pediatric specialties for nine consecutive years, including Behavioral Health, Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology, and Urology.
Since 2009, Children’s Health has maintained Magnet® designation – the highest honor for nursing excellence – and continues to earn employer-of-choice recognition locally, nationally and globally. These honors include the Great Place to Work® Certification™, the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award and Top Workplaces recognition from USA TODAY and The Dallas Morning News. Children’s Health has also been named one of the 150 Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review for 14 consecutive years.
For more information and to support Children’s Health, visit childrens.com or like us on Facebook, follow Children’s Health on X, Instagram and LinkedIn, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
About U.S. News & World Report ranking methodology
To create the pediatric rankings, U.S. News & World Report gathers key clinical data from nearly 200 children’s hospitals through a detailed survey that evaluates measures such as patient safety and quality outcomes, infection prevention and adequacy of nurse staffing. Part of each hospital’s score is also derived from surveying pediatric specialists regarding where they would send the sickest children in their specialty. RTI International, an independent research and consulting firm, then analyzes the data and ranks the top 50 children’s hospitals in each of the 11 pediatric specialty areas. In 2026-2027, 90 children’s hospitals were ranked in at least one of the 11 pediatric specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report.