Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is honored to be selected the first Accredited Pediatric Heart Failure Institute on the West Coast by The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium. The Colloquium made the announcement following nearly a year of work and an in-depth onsite review on Sept. 2.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is now among an elite group of only six pediatric members in the nation to receive this coveted distinction. The Colloquium is the first organization to develop an improvement science-based approach to heart failure accreditation using a continuum of care model. It is also the only organization that grants Institute and System accreditation for heart failure.
“We are honored to be recognized by The Healthcare Colloquium as an Accredited Pediatric Heart Failure Institute,” said Dr. Frank F. Ing, MD, FAAP, FACC, FSCAI, chief of the Division of Cardiology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, co-director of the CHLA Heart Institute and professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics in the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “Children’s Hospital Los Angeles strives to provide top care to achieve the best outcomes to treat children with heart disease. Our admittance to this expert group of pediatric heart failure institutes demonstrates our commitment to innovative treatments and improving the lives of pediatric patients with heart failure.”
The Healthcare Colloquium is the only accrediting body offering Pediatric Heart Failure Accreditation. The Healthcare Colloquium’s unique accreditation process builds on the member hospital’s prior improvement experience leading to initial heart failure accreditation. Member hospitals work within four established domains of heart failure: Community, Hospital, Clinicians, and Science using The Healthcare Colloquium’s continuum of care model that leads to:
• An integration of heart failure care, from antecedents to early diagnosis and advanced care
• Streamlined processes across the entire continuum of care beginning in the community
• Enabling individuals to participate in their own care with more independence and less hospitalization
• Collaboration with other Colloquium member hospitals across the country
“My personal thanks go to our CHLA heart failure team for its advancements and for working diligently with the Healthcare Colloquium reviewers,” says Dr. Jondavid Menteer, MD, director of the CHLA Heart Failure Program, Division of Cardiology and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “During our site review, the Colloquium voiced appreciation of our program’s unique components, groundbreaking clinical services and research, and superb outcomes. Our team looks forward to collaborating with the Colloquium and its other Pediatric Heart Failure Institutes to advance heart failure and heart transplant care for children.”
A leader in the field since the 1930s, the Heart Failure Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides multidisciplinary care to children with severe heart failure of all causes. The team uses a modern mixture of cutting-edge medical and surgical treatments to customize the needs of every patient. In 2013, they have managed more than 8,000 visits and since 1993, have performed more than 120 heart transplants—making the cardiology program one of the largest and most successful in the nation.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is ranked 7th by the U.S. World News Report in pediatric hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery.
Few hospitals can offer patients and families what Children’s Hospital does—complete cardiac care in one spacious, all-inclusive location with the most practiced specialists around. The hospital houses one of the largest pediatric cardiac programs in the country with 45 dedicated inpatient beds, most of them in private rooms. As the number of diagnoses for pediatric heart failure increases, so has the program’s depth and breadth of experience in treating patients and the ability to offer the right pediatric ventricular assist device for each child.
“The experience of working with the Colloquium was tremendous for the CHLA team,” says Lucy Dautrich, RN, lead nurse in the hospital’s accreditation effort. “We are excited about working with the colloquium and looking forward to utilizing its resources to improve and expand our excellent heart care services.”
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
For more information, visit CHLA.org or visit our blog at ResearCHLAblog.org.
