Pediatric Cardiac Hospitals

If your child has heart disease or a heart defect, choosing the right hospital is critical. Since many heart issues are a matter of life and death, you will want your child in the hands of the best. If your child needs a heart transplant or is suffering from something your local doctor cannot identify, consider a top pediatric cardiac center.

Children's Hospital Boston

• According to U.S. News and World Report, the best pediatric cardiac hospital in the country is Children's Hospital Boston. The hospital, located in downtown Boston, is home to 1,000 of the country's most qualified doctors and dentists as well as many more residents and nursing staff members, making it the largest pediatric Cardiac Surgery department in the country. The hospital has been a forerunner in pediatric cardiology since 1938, when Doctor Robert Gross conducted the first surgery ever to fix a congenital heart defect, according to the hospital's website.

  The hospital also excels in services outside the operating room, offering an array of family support services such as support groups, translation for non-English speakers and pastoral care. The hospital, which opened in 1869, is a not-for-profit facility. According to the hospital's website, doctors at Children's Hospital Boston perform more than 750 cases of open heart surgery each year, making it a place where you can feel your child is in the right hands.

  Children's Hospital Boston
  300 Longwood Avenue
  Boston, MA 02115
  617-355-6000
  childrenshospital.org

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

• According to U.S. News and World Report, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is the second best hospital in the nation for pediatric cardiac care. Located in downtown Philadelphia near the University of Pennsylvania, it is home to the Cardiac Center, which sees more than 24,000 outpatients annually. Doctors at CHOP perform more than 1,000 cardiac characterizations and 500 open heart procedures each year. CHOP has helped children overcome rare heart ailments like hypoplastic left heart syndrome, tetralogy of Fallot and patent ductus arteriosus.

  CHOP is a nationally recognized center for reconstructive heart surgery and care for children and young adults who have heart disease and defects. CHOP is also one of the nation's leading hospitals in neurocardiac care, cardiothoracic anesthesia as well as a specialty in fetal heart care, making it a good place to take infants and unborn babies with heart disease and defects.

  The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard
  Philadelphia, PA 19104
  800-879-2467
  chop.edu

Texas Children's Hospital

• Located in Houston, the Texas Children's Hospital is ranked the third best pediatric cardiac care center in the country and best in Texas by U.S. News and World Report. The hospital's Heart Center specializes in congenital heart surgery, cardiology and cardiovascular anesthesiology. It made history in 2010 when Francisco "Frank" De Santiago became the first child ever to be released from a hospital with a mechanical heart pump, according to the hospital's website.

  Each year the Heart Center treats more than 12,000 patients and performs more than 900 surgeries. The physicians there are also trained to deal with aortic valve problems, arrhythmia and even conduct heart transplants. The Heart Center also works with the academic staff of Baylor University to provide the most effective care for children with heart disease, an important melding of medical and academic minds to push the Heart Center to the forefront of American pediatric cardiac hospitals.

  Texas Children's Hospital
  6621 Fannin Street
  Houston, Texas 77030
  832-826-5600
  texaschildrens.org