CHOC Ranked as One of Nation's Top Children's Hospitals

• First children's hospital in Orange County*

• First in Orange County to open an emergency room for children

• CHOC surgeons are the first in the world to successfully complete a
  pulmonary resection in a child using a robotic system

• Nation's first and only American Diabetes Association-certified pediatric diabetes program

• First in the nation to collaborate with the Boys & Girls Club to have a pediatric health care clinic on site at the club

• First in the nation to use the LICOX, a brain oxygen monitor, in young children with traumatic brain injuries

• Largest baclofen pump implant program in the nation for treatment of spasticity and dystonia

• Conducted the nation's first balloon dilation of a cardiac lesion, now a routine cardiac procedure

• Only US site selected to evaluate the efficacy of a genetically engineered recombinant factor XIII (for clotting disorders)

• The only dedicated Neuroscience Unit in California

• First in California to test Strata Valve for treatment of hydrocephalus in children

• First in Orange County to perform fetal MRIs

• Only West Coast facility, and one of a few in the nation, to serve as beta test site for Nanogen technology

• Only West Coast facility, and one of only four in the nation, to receive training grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

• One of only five facilities worldwide to receive NIH teaching grant to share findings with international researchers

• First and only facility in the nation to use high frequency ventilation in transporting critically ill children

• First in the nation to combine high frequency ventilation and nitric oxide in transporting critically ill children

• First California children's hospital to perform robotic surgery

• First in California to perform unrelated cord blood transplants

• Performed the first bone marrow transplant in Orange County

• Only facility in Orange County to perform pediatric bone marrow transplantation

• The only Cord Blood Bank in Orange County & one of only a few in the nation approved by the National Marrow Donor Program

• The first and only to perform pediatric open heart surgery in Orange County

• Orange County's first and only pediatric heart program

• First to offer the complete unifoculization for Tetralogy of Fallot and Pulmonary Atresia

• First in Orange County to perform the Sano Procedure for cardiac patients

• First in Orange County to perform Double Switch surgery for Congenital Transposition of the Great Vessels

• First to offer single stage repair of the neonate with Pulmonary Atresia and Ventricular Septal Defect

• Pioneered the use of the Amplatzer device

• Performs the most fetal echocardiography's in Orange County

• The only children's hospital on the West Coast to offer the Vitalstim Therapy (with the most certified therapists) for children with swallowing disorders

• Only Orange County facility approved by the Department of Health Services to teach EDAP (emergency department approved for pediatrics) conferences

• Orange County's only dedicated pediatric hematology/oncology unit

• First in the nation to collaborate with pool builders, designers and manufacturers to improve pool safety through builder education (as part of hospital's nationally recognized drowning prevention program.

• Only hospital in the nation to have a mobile safety house geared to providing home safety tips for parents and caregivers

• Provides the only year-round fitting station in Orange County for child passenger safety seats (as part of the hospital's child passenger safety program)

• Offers the most certified child passenger safety technicians/instructors in Orange County

• CHOC is one of six hospitals nationwide selected as a partner in Get on Board with Child Safety! -- a national injury prevention campaign spearheaded by Dorel Juvenile Group's Safety 1st brand and the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI).
   

• The first and only mobile asthma unit in Orange County

• Enrolls the highest number of children in insurance programs in the state, increasing access to medical care

• The first and only hospital in the country to develop a respiratory care practitioner new grad residency program and a LVN new grad residency program in an effort to recruit and retain the best in the field

• Helped develop first, nationally recognized nurse training curriculum for hematology/oncology nursing

• First out-patient facility in Orange County to offer Reach Out and Read program on site: Purpose is to provide early literacy exposure to children as young as 6 months by offering a new book at each visit, anticipatory guidance by a pediatrician, and volunteer mentors for literacy.
   
• First Radio Lollipop studio on the West Coast
   
• First in the world to prepare patient doses utilizing RIVA (robotic intravenous automation), a self-contained robotic unit for filling IV syringes and bags
   
• First pediatric intensive care unit in the nation to earn the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence
   
• CHOC is the only children’s hospital in the state, and one of only 11 pediatric cancer programs in the nation to receive full approval with commendation by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons

• Only children's hospital in the state to earn the Silver Level CAPE (California Awards for Performance Excellence) Award from the California Council for Excellence. The CAPE Award is the highest recognition in the state for performance excellence.

*CHOC serves a pediatric population of approximately 1,156,190 children (0-18); Orange County is the 5th most populous county in the United States.