Normal life looks a lot different these days, especially in healthcare. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed at Children’s Colorado: Your child’s health and safety are our highest priority. Kids need great pediatric care as much now as ever, and it’s for that reason that we’re reactivating services we temporarily suspended due to the pandemic. We are here to deliver safe, thoughtful, high-quality care for kids who need it. Learn what to expect – and all the ways we’re keeping patients safe.
If you're concerned that you or your child may have been exposed to COVID-19, please do NOT visit an emergency or urgent care location. Instead, call your doctor or our free ParentSmart Healthline at 720-777-0123 for guidance.
In life-threatening emergencies, find the emergency room location nearest you. For non-life-threatening medical needs when your pediatrician is unavailable, visit one of our urgent care locations.
To help inform you about the latest coronavirus (COVID-19) updates, experts from Children's Colorado have gathered information from local and national health authorities.
In many ways, pediatric intensive care is the heart of our hospital, a hub that serves and drives outcomes for every specialty. Patients with acute disease and trauma, patients coming out of surgeries and organ transplants, complicated patients, unstable patients: the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children's Hospital Colorado cares for them all.
As a regional supercenter and the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in a 350-mile radius, our PICU cares for some of the most acute, high-risk pediatric conditions in seven states. And our PICU team handles higher volumes while providing better outcomes and shorter stays than the national average — by a wide margin.
At Children's Colorado, we evaluate our success by comparing our PICU outcomes with other top pediatric hospitals. Transparency with our patients and colleagues is one of the keys to our success as one of the top children's hospitals in the U.S.
We measure a number of outcomes to ensure that we're providing the highest level of pediatric critical care for our patients. The following data is from Virtual Pediatric Systems, LLC (VPS) for 2016-2017 at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
PICU volumes
Children's Colorado is home to one of the busiest PICUs in the country, treating approximately 3,000 patients per year. In fact, our PICU treats roughly 30% more patients annually compared to the averages of our peer institutions. This means we have more experience treating patients with a wide variety of illnesses and injuries.
More patients than the national average
With clinical staffing to match our busy unit, each child receives the individual attention and constant monitoring they need.
PICU survival rates
Our dedication to providing exceptional care to every patient has allowed us to achieve PICU survival rates among the best in the country. Our overall patient survival rate is 98%, outperforming the national average.
Measured another way, mortality in our PICU is much lower than the national average. The following graph shows the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), or the predicted mortality given a patient's severity of illness, against the actual outcome. This means that even though our patients are sicker, they survive at a higher rate than expected.
Standardized Mortality Ratio (PRISM III)
Length of stay in the PICU
The standardized or severity-adjusted length-of-stay ratio (SLOSR) predicts length of stay based on the severity of the child's condition. Here, too, we are better than the national average.
This means that our patients are sicker than at other PICUs, but they leave our PICU sooner than expected.
Standardized LOS Ratio (PRISM III)
Effective and efficient care in the PICU
When comparing mortality (SMR) and length of stay (SLOSR) against national averages, Children's Colorado is in the 95th percentile for both, meaning that we scored as well or better than 95% of similar institutions.
Standardized Mortality Ratio (PRISM III) versus Standardized LOS Ratio (PRISM III) plot across ICUs
Plotted out with SMR on the y-axis and SLOSR on the x-axis, our PICU plots in the lower-left quadrant as measured against national averages.
"Our pediatric intensive care outcomes are a big part of the success of the entire institution. We're committed to continuously improving that care through quality improvement and research."
Children's Hospital Colorado partners with NRC Health to gather star ratings and reviews from patients, residents and family survey data.
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Provider affiliation
Children's Hospital Colorado providers
Children’s Hospital Colorado providers are faculty members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Our specialists are nationally ranked and globally recognized for delivering the best possible care in pediatrics.
Community providers
Some healthcare professionals listed on our website have medical privileges to practice at Children’s Hospital Colorado, but they are community providers. They schedule and bill separately for their services, and are not employees of the Hospital.