UVA Children's Hospital

Violet Smith was born with congenital heart defects — she wasn’t getting enough blood from her heart to her lungs. The family’s local children’s hospital, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, took care of Violet for six months.

However, her condition got worse. Because of a partnership between CHKD and UVA, Violet’s hospital encouraged her family to transfer her to UVA.

The UVA team first implanted a double Berlin heart, which takes over a child’s heart function when the heart is too weak. But that was only a temporary solution: Violet needed a heart transplant.

Babies with maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) are unable to process amino acids, giving their urine the smell of maple syrup. Left untreated, MSUD can cause significant physical and neurological damage.

When Conor was born with this condition, doctors told his parents he needed a liver transplant. They put Conor on a waiting list at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. However, Conor was also added to UVA’s waiting list, thanks to a new partnership between the two hospitals.

Within just a few weeks, Conor’s mom got a phone call: UVA had a liver available.

Six specialties at University of Virginia Children’s Hospital earned a top-50 national ranking in the 2018-2019 “Best Children’s Hospitals” guide from U.S. News & World Report.

The report recognized neonatology, diabetes and endocrinology, pediatric urology, neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery.

The rankings aim to “identify hospitals that provide the highest quality of care for children with the most serious or complicated medical conditions,” according to U.S. News.

“To have six specialties recognized nationally highlights the wide array of high-quality, advanced care for children that is available at UVA,” said James Nataro, MD, PhD, MBA, physician-in-chief at UVA Children’s Hospital.