Sacramento, Calif. – UC Davis Children’s Hospital has become the first hospital on the West Coast, and only the fourth in the nation, to earn verification as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The designation from the ACS Children’s Surgery Verification Quality Improvement Program focuses on the nation’s first and only multi-specialty standards of surgical care for pediatric patients.
The American College of Surgeons, in collaboration with the Task Force for Children’s Surgical Care, developed standards to improve surgical care for pediatric patients. The guidelines ensure that children facing surgery receive care under a multidisciplinary program with quality improvement and safety processes, data collection and appropriate resources provided to them as patients at the hospital. The ACS CSV standards are the nation’s first and only multispecialty standards for children’s surgical care.
The Level I verification — the highest of three — was awarded to UC Davis Children’s Hospital after an extensive site visit by an ACS team of surveyors. The survey team consisted of experienced children’s surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses who reviewed the hospital’s structure, process and clinical outcomes data.
“UC Davis Children’s Hospital is dedicated to providing world-class care for its pediatric patients, and this recognition reflects our team’s leadership in its field and its commitment to safety and quality of care in every surgical procedure,” said Diana Farmer, chair and Pearl Stamps Stewart professor of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “This new verification should remind families that the best surgical care for their children is right here at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.”
To become a verified center, UC Davis Children’s Hospital met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to appropriately care for children who are surgical patients. A Level I Children’s Surgery Center has specialty trained children’s surgeons in every discipline, who are able to care for newborns, children and teens. Pediatric anesthesiologists are also available to provide round-the-clock care. A Level I Children’s Surgery Center includes dedicated operating rooms for children available 24 hours a day. In addition to acute-care responsibilities, a Level I Children’s Surgery Center trains future leaders in education and research, and leads the way in community service and outreach.
American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the quality of care for surgical patients. Its achievements have placed it at the forefront of American surgery and have made the College an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.
UC Davis Children’s Hospital
UC Davis Children’s Hospital is the Sacramento region’s only nationally ranked, comprehensive hospital providing care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults with primary, subspecialty and critical care. It includes the Central Valley’s only pediatric emergency department and Level I pediatric trauma center, which offers the highest level of care for its critically ill patients. The 129-bed children’s hospital includes the state-of-the-art 49-bed neonatal and 24-bed pediatric intensive care and pediatric cardiac intensive care units.
