UVM Children’s Hospital Ranked Among the Nation’s Best for Pediatric Care

Burlington, VT – University of Vermont Children’s Hospital is being recognized for the outstanding pediatric care it provides to patients, as well as the exceptional experiences and communication reported by family members and loved ones while at the hospital.

Money magazine, which evaluated thousands of hospitals nationwide, has ranked UVM Children’s Hospital 16th on its 2025 list of Best Hospitals for Pediatric Care. The hospital received an ‘A’ grade overall and an ‘A’ grade for price transparency, which the magazine rates as part of its mission to empower people with education and information that helps them take control of their personal health care finances.

“To be recognized by Money Magazine as a top twenty children’s hospital is a terrific reflection of the quality and safety of the care we deliver, combined with the expertise in clinical care and communication we provide to the children and families we care for each and every day,” said Lewis First, MD, MS, chief of Pediatrics at UVM Children’s Hospital.

UVM Children’s Hospital’s medical staff includes more than 90 pediatric specialists. The hospital offers 34 areas of specialty pediatric care, ranging from resources dedicated to caring for critically ill infants with medical and surgical complexity to other services that promote the healthy growth and development of all children. The hospital’s Children’s Specialty Center cares for more than 25,000 patients per year across all pediatric specialty programs.

Understanding Hospital Rankings

Hospital rankings can vary widely. University of Vermont Health Network has committed to helping patients understand what they mean, and to demonstrating how the organization continually tracks and improves the quality and safety of the care it provides.

Each external rating organization takes its own approach, with some using more complete and up-to-date measures than others. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) star ratings are often viewed as the gold standard, but even these rely on data that can be several years old, creating a lag between performance and published results. That can sometimes lead to ratings that do not reflect progress that has been made in certain areas. However, taken together with other research, external ratings can provide one view of a hospital’s quality.

For its list, Money used a combination of star ratings from CMS, data on the expertise of hospital staff, and state and national accreditations from trusted organizations such as the Joint Commission and the American College of Surgeons to create its rankings. This combination of factors provides a suitably up-to-date picture of quality and patient experience, and UVM Children’s Hospital wants to highlight the excellence of the teams whose hard work earned these positive ratings.

More on UVM Children’s Hospital

UVM Children’s Hospital also provides pediatric intensive care to more than 300 children per year via its PICU, runs a 29-bed, 24/7 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and provides care in support of more than 2,000 births per year.

In 2022, the hospital established a Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) to enhance its care of children with serious, life-limiting illnesses. Serving patients and families across Vermont and northern New York, the team collaborates with parents and providers from labor-delivery through home and hospice care, providing support and assistance navigating complex medical situations.

“Our goal is to be the highest quality child-friendly, family-centered children’s hospital possible,” said Dr. First. “Receiving this accolade as the sixteenth best non-freestanding children’s hospital in the country reaffirms that we are accomplishing that goal.”