Thanks to our long-standing institutional commitment to the highest standards of surgical care, we are proud to share the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently reverified Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center and Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, and accredited The Woodlands Campus as an Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Center.
ACS Quality Programs use the best data, expert input and proven processes to help surgical care teams across the nation deliver the highest quality care. As a participant in multiple programs, Texas Children’s has earned distinction as an ACS Surgical Quality Partner in these three areas.
“As one of the very first children’s hospitals in the country verified by the American College of Surgeons, we are proud that we have now successfully completed three rounds of rigorous surveys,” said Texas Children’s Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. “Additionally, we are honored to be one of only seven children’s hospitals recognized as an adolescent bariatric surgery center in the country.”
ACS-verified Trauma Centers must meet essential criteria to ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance. Verified since 2010, Texas Children’s Hospital is the only freestanding Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in our region, providing comprehensive around-the-clock coverage to evaluate and treat the most severely injured children and adolescents. Our trauma process improvement program carefully monitors and evaluates patient care and system performance while ensuring implementation of a safety-first culture.
Texas Children’s Hospital was one of the first Level I Children’s Surgery Centers to earn the distinction in 2016. A Level I verification requires us to provide surgery and anesthesia for all major pediatric specialties for children of all ages, from premature infants to adolescents. In addition to robust data collection, outcomes assessment and quality improvement efforts, the hospital must also have the highest level NICU and pediatric emergency medicine physicians and radiologists available all day, every day.
The process for ACS verification includes 12 to 18 months of rigorous preparation and collaboration. Both the Trauma and Children’s Surgery programs surveyed under new ACS standards, which required compliance with elevated metrics for multiple surgical and non-surgical subspecialties and allied health teams.
Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands is home to the only adolescent bariatric surgery center in the state with a multidisciplinary clinical staff certified to meet the surgical, medical and psychological needs of its patients. Last year, they met the rigorous criteria to receive national accreditation from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), a joint program of the ACS. Click here to read our previous story with more details on their inaugural accreditation.
Congratulations to our surgical teams on these outstanding accomplishments!