New Children's Surgical Center Verification

UVA Health Children's is now verified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) as a Level 1 Children's Surgical Center. This recognition reflects our commitment to providing the highest level of pediatric care.

Centers with this designation can provide multidisciplinary care, even for congenital abnormalities and complex illnesses. This distinction also speaks to our capability to lead, and provide guidance, education, and ongoing research to improve children's health outcomes.

Our surgical team's excellence contributes meaningfully to the care of every pediatric patient. We asked Ankush Gosain, MD, surgeon-in-chief for UVA Health Children's and chief of the division for pediatric surgery, some of the questions providers may have about what this means for them in the following Q&A.

What should referring providers know about this verification, and why should it matter when choosing where to refer, even for seemingly minor surgeries?

Gosain: Level I Children’s Surgery Verification from the American College of Surgeons is the highest level of recognition a hospital can receive for the surgical care of children. It isn’t a marketing designation. It is earned through a rigorous external review of our resources, personnel, processes, and outcomes, measured against national standards built specifically for children.

A Level I center has pediatric surgical specialists available around the clock. It has pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care, child-appropriate imaging and equipment, and a formal quality program that tracks and improves outcomes.

This matters for every operation, not only the most complex ones. Children are not small adults. An infant needing a hernia repair or a pyloromyotomy, or a school-age child with appendicitis, benefits from a team that does these operations on children every day. That includes the surgeons, and also the anesthesiologists, nurses, and child life specialists who make the experience safer and less frightening.

The national evidence supports this. Children treated in pediatric-focused surgical settings tend to have fewer complications, less unnecessary radiation exposure, and more appropriate care. When something unexpected happens, even during a routine procedure, every resource a child could need is already here.

Surgical care is a major driver of the quality measures behind UVA Health Children’s being ranked the #1 children’s hospital in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report for the sixth consecutive year. This verification confirms that standard independently. For a referring provider, it means confidence that patients will receive the highest level of surgical and anesthetic expertise, in an environment designed around children and their families.

If a provider believes their patient may be a surgical candidate, what are their next steps?

We have worked hard to make referring to us as easy as possible. For urgent questions, consults, or transfers, a provider can call 1.877.377.1189. That one call connects them directly with a pediatric surgeon, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No question is too small. We would much rather talk through a case early than have a provider wonder whether a referral is appropriate.

For non-urgent referrals, providers can send a referral through EpicCare. Over the past year, our access team has done substantial work to streamline clinic scheduling. Referrals are processed quickly, families are contacted promptly, and patients are seen in a timely way. We also communicate back to the referring provider after the visit and after any procedure.

We see ourselves as partners in the child’s care, and the child returns to their medical home for ongoing care.

Many referring providers worry about the hardship of travel for their patients. What resources help with that?

We serve children from across the Commonwealth and beyond, and we know that travel can be a real burden on families. We try to remove as many of those barriers as we can.

Telehealth consultations are available in many of our specialties. A family can often have an initial visit, a follow-up, or a postoperative check without making the drive to Charlottesville. When an in-person visit is needed, we work to coordinate appointments, imaging, and testing on the same day so that families make as few trips as possible.

Our social workers and case managers are a critical part of the team. They help families with the practical logistics: transportation, lodging, meals, insurance questions, and time away from work or school. Patient and family experience is something we take seriously. It’s part of what distinguishes our center, and our goal is for families to focus on their child, not on the logistics.