awards, accreditations and recognition

Dayton Children’s Hospital has earned silver recognition from the American Medical Association (AMA) as a Joy in Medicine™ health organization. The prestigious AMA distinction acknowledges organizations that are prioritizing the well-being and professional fulfillment of physicians. Dayton Children’s is one of just two health care organizations in Ohio to receive this award from the AMA and the only pediatric hospital in the state to be recognized. Learn more
 

In 2023 Dayton Children’s had 36 physicians recognized by Dayton Magazine for their “Dayton Best Docs” issue.

The physicians, ranging in specialties from pediatric ENT to neurosurgery, were nominated by peers, patients and the general public for the magazine’s annual issue.

View the full list

Dayton Children’s Hospital was honored in 2016 with the Better Business Bureau’s Community Honor award. The Better Business Bureau established it to honor a community-based government, nonprofit or education organization with a proven commitment to improving all aspects of life in the Miami Valley. It spotlights the honoree’s efforts to realize not only its own mission, but its role in making the Miami Valley a thriving community, taking care of its citizens – individuals and organizations. It demonstrates a passion for and progress towards improving the quality of life. This honor is reserved for an organization which has shown stamina, steadfast determination and truly innovative ways of giving back to the community.

John North, president and CEO of the BBB serving Dayton and the Miami Valley, shares, “Dayton Children’s Hospital mirrors the qualities of the Community Honor award. From its origins at the end of World War II as the Barney Community Center to its present day role as a national leader in pediatric care, Dayton Children’s has evolved with the needs of the community it serves. It’s committed to the Dayton region and has made large investments of time, talent and treasure to help the organization and the Miami Valley be strong now and into the future.”

John North, president and CEO of the BBB serving Dayton and the Miami Valley, shares, “Dayton Children’s Hospital mirrors the qualities of the Community Honor award. From its origins at the end of World War II as the Barney Community Center to its present day role as a national leader in pediatric care, Dayton Children’s has evolved with the needs of the community it serves. It’s committed to the Dayton region and has made large investments of time, talent and treasure to help the organization and the Miami Valley be strong now and into the future.”

Dayton Children’s was recognized with a 5 star Award for Excellent Performance in Physician Engagement and a 4 Star Award for Excellent Performance in Nursing Care and Electronic Medical Records System by national healthcare research leader Professional Research Consultants, Inc. (PRC).

The Excellence in Healthcare Awards recognize organizations and individuals who achieve excellence throughout the year by improving patient experiences, healthcare employee engagement and/or physician alignment and engagement based on surveys of their physicians.

Dayton Children’s earned the 5 Star Award in Physician Engagement by having an exceptionally high number of physicians respond in the 2015 survey that they are highly engaged, placing the hospital in the 98th percentile nationally. The 4 Star Awards in Nursing Care and Electronic Medical Records System place Dayton Children’s in the top 25th percentile in the country. In addition, the percent of positive responses increased from the previous survey completed in 2013.

Dayton Children's received Magnet designation® on July 18, 2018. Magnet designation is nursing’s highest honor, meaning Dayton Children’s Hospital has been recognized nationally as the gold standard in patient care and the professional practice of nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), the region's only intensive care unit devoted to pediatrics, won the first-ever Ohio Patient Safety Institute Best Practices Award in 2009 for our outstanding record of decreasing incidence of central line bloodstream infections.

In 2016 Dayton Children’s was the recipient of the 7th Annual Dr. Frank Dono Best Practice Award for their quality improvement project that reduced methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The award is given in memory of Dr. Frank Dono, a member of OPSI and a strong patient safety advocate.

Through a variety of efforts, MRSA rates decreased 73 percent from 2008 to 2009 and compliance is sustained at 97-100 percent.  Rates of hospital acquired MRSA remain 01.-0.2/1000 patient days.

Dayton Children’s earned the 2024 Women’s Choice Award for Best Children’s Hospitals and Best Children's Hospital for Emergency Care for the sixth year. The Women’s Choice Award is the only evidence-based designation that identifies the country’s best hospitals based on robust criteria and what women say they want from a hospital.

This award identifies hospitals women can choose with confidence, trusting they excel at clinical care and patient experience for their families.

Dayton Children’s Hospital ranked #1 on the Forbes list of Best Employers by State 2022. The award recognizes employers who prioritize employment topics like safety of work environment, competitiveness of compensation, opportunities for advancement and openness to telecommuting. Dayton Children’s was one of only 16 hospitals and health care facilities in Ohio to be recognized on the top 100 list of employers throughout the state.

Dayton Children’s Hospital has been recognized as a 2024-2025 Best Children’s Hospital by U.S. News & World Report in two specialties. This is the fifth year in a row that the orthopedics division at Dayton Children’s has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report for the division’s world-class, innovative care. In addition to orthopedics, the hospital’s behavioral health program was also ranked among the top 50 children’s hospitals in the country. This is the first year U.S. News has ranked adolescent behavioral health.

In 2021, Parent's Magazine named Dayton Children's as one of top 15 children's hospitals in innovation and technology for our sensory program.

Parents are in awe of how we are transforming care for their child with sensory needs. One mom said, “We walked in and immediately felt more at ease. The lights were turned down low. There was a projection of fish on the wall. They had a fiberoptic bubble machine. There were markers for Declan to color on the bed. Basically, anything they could do to help Declan not think about being at the hospital.”

Dayton Children's senior leaders have received the following awards:

• Debbie Feldman

  • Becker’s CEOS to know in 2023

  • Dayton Business Journal 2022 Jane Haley award 

  • Maureen Patterson Regional Leader Award (2022)

• Kelly Kavanaugh 

  • PR News Top Women

  • Top 50 chief strategy officer named top 50 by Becker’s healthcare

• Cindy Burger

• Jayne Gmeiner

• Jena Pado

  • Chief development officer of the year for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

The Comprehensive Cancer Care Center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons and is one of only a few approved programs in the country.

Our Clinical Laboratory, Genetics Department, Respiratory Department, and Outpatient Lab Testing Centers are surveyed every two years by the College of American Pathologist (CAP). Our Blood Bank is also FDA regulated.

The Cystic Fibrosis Center is accredited by National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The echocardiography laboratory is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories in all forms of Pediatric echocardiography and in Fetal Echocardiography.

The National Association of Epilepsy Centers is designated as a Level 3 Epilepsy Center.

Dayton Children’s Hospital and Children’s Home Care of Dayton are both accredited by The Joint Commission, an independent, national accrediting body that oversees the safety and quality of health care delivery and related services.

Medical Imaging is accredited by the American College of Radiology including our CT and MRI program. The Medical Imaging Department for X-rays and Nuclear Medicine is also licensed by the Ohio Department of Health.

The pediatric sleep center is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Dayton Children’s Hospital is verified as a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.  Dayton Children’s Hospital is the only verified pediatric trauma center in the region staffed entirely by pediatric specialists.