Recognition and Honors

The best physicians in Indiana are at Riley Children’s Health.

Your child will always be in good hands when seeing a physician at Riley at IU Health. More than 90 percent of Indiana’s top doctors practice here, according to Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Castle Connolly has committed itself to the identification of top primary care and specialty physicians across the country for more than two decades. It bases its selections on peer nominations and the research of its physician-led staff.

Level 1 Children's Surgery Center

Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health was named a Level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), becoming the first and only children’s hospital in Indiana to earn this status. As the highest distinction, Level I Children's Surgery Centers can provide the most comprehensive surgical care to infants and children - including those with some of the most complex conditions.

An Elite Program for Congenital Heart Surgery

Riley at IU Health is one of just 11 institutions in 2017 to earn the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) three-star rating, the highest category of quality. With data from 118 programs and more than 450,000 surgeries, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons hosts the largest pediatric and congenital heart database in North America. Its star rating system, based on five operative mortality categories, is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in healthcare in the U.S. and Canada.

Designated Platinum Level Center of Excellence

Riley at IU Health is one of six National and International Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) centers to receive the Excellence in Life Support Award for the Award Period 2019-2020.

A designated Center of Excellence has demonstrated extraordinary achievement in the following three categories:

• Excellence in promoting the mission, activities, and vision of ELSO;
• Excellence in patient care by using the highest quality measures, processes, and structures based upon evidence; and
• Excellence in training, education, collaboration, and communication supporting ELSO guidelines that contributes to a healing environment for families, patients and staff.

Riley at IU Health provides ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) or ECLS (Extracorporeal Life Support) for support of failing organ systems in infants and children. ECMO or ECLS is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system. ECMO or ECLS allows time for the patient’s lungs or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood outside the body.

Our nursing excellence puts us in elite company.

Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health is among an elite group of hospitals to have achieved Magnet status, a national designation recognizing excellence in nursing services and clinical care. The recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center is a seal of approval for quality nursing care. It means you can be assured that at Riley at IU Health, the nurses who care for your child love their work and know how to perform to the highest standards.

Fewer than 7 percent of U.S. hospitals achieve Magnet status. We’ve held the designation since 2006. Being a Magnet hospital means adhering to a rigorous set of nursing standards and committing to continual improvement. Hospitals that achieve this honor consistently show better patient outcomes.

To be considered for the honor, hospitals must excel in 14 areas known as the Forces of Magnetism. Among them are:

• Quality of nursing leadership.
• Management style.
• Quality of care.
• Quality improvement.