Select highlights from UC Davis Children’s Hospital

UC Davis Medical Center has received the Gold Level ELSO Award for Excellence in Life Support from the non-profit Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). The award signifies a commitment to exceptional care and demonstrates an assurance of high quality standards, specialized equipment and supplies, defined patient protocols, and advanced education of all staff members.

UC Davis Medical Center has been officially redesignated as a Baby-Friendly Hospital, following a rigorous review by Baby-Friendly USA. The honor demonstrates continued adherence to the highest breastfeeding standards of care, built on practices consistent with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and compliant with the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

For 2025–2026, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Davis Children’s Hospital among the nation’s best in three pediatric specialties, including nephrology, orthopedics, and pulmonology & lung surgery. The orthopedics ranking was awarded in collaboration with Shriners Children’s Northern California, our longstanding partner in caring for children with burns, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic disorders and urological issues.

Satyan Lakshminrusimha, M.D., M.B.B.S., chair of the Department of Pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, and Érik Fernández y García, M.D., M.P.H., professor of clinical pediatrics, were among 90 pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists and trainees recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics for exemplary achievements in advocacy, practice and research.

Newsweek magazine and Statista included UC Davis Children’s Hospital in their top 50 ranking of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals for 2025. The children’s hospital was ranked 39th in neonatology, 34th in cardiology and cardiac surgery, and 34th in neurology and neurosurgery. We were also the only hospital in Sacramento to be recognized.