Newsweek names UC Davis Children’s Hospital one of America’s best

UC Davis Children’s Hospital has been named one of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals for 2025 by Newsweek magazine and Statista, a global market research and consumer data firm.

The ranking recognizes the leading children’s hospitals in the United States across eight pediatric fields. It features the top 50 children's hospitals for cardiology and cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedics and pulmonology.

UC Davis Children’s Hospital was ranked 39th nationally in neonatology, 34th in cardiology and cardiac surgery and 34th in neurology and neurosurgery. UC Davis Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in Sacramento to be recognized.

“Our team is privileged to provide world-class care every day to children and families here in the Sacramento region and beyond,” said Brenda Chagolla, associate chief nursing officer at UC Davis Health. “We are honored to receive this recognition from Newsweek.”

The rankings, announced today, honored 93 leading hospitals.

The list was compiled from four data sources:

1. A nationwide online survey. Health care professionals and hospital managers with knowledge about pediatric care, such as general and specialized pediatricians and nurses, were asked to recommend leading children’s hospitals in the U.S. The survey was also promoted on newsweek.com
2. Hospital quality metrics with a focus on indicators from the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey Database. This includes data provided by more than 6,200 hospitals and 400 health care systems.
3. Patient satisfaction research, which included Google reviews.
4. Statista Patient-Reported Outcome Measures, which includes standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients.

The full list of recipients appears in Newsweek online.