Elizabeth Earley: Elizabeth.Earley@CHKD.org or (757) 668-9049
HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters has been reverified by the American College of Surgeons as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center, the highest level of certification for pediatric hospital surgical programs.
As a Level 1 center, CHKD offers multiple medical and surgical specialties with procedures for major congenital anomalies and complex diseases. This national level of excellence encourages continuous quality improvement in pediatric surgery and identifies centers that provide the most advanced surgical care to children.
Level 1 Children’s Surgery Centers are verified every three years with an extensive site visit. In November 2022, CHKD hosted a panel of site reviewers from the American College of Surgeons. This panel consisted of an experienced surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse from other prominent children’s hospitals.
The main campus in Norfolk and the surgery centers in Virginia Beach and Newport News were evaluated to ensure the comprehensive standards set by the children's surgery verification program are met. These standards include continuous efforts to improve surgical quality and protocols for care, complication prevention, and rigorous criteria for staffing, training, and facility features.
CHKD provides exceptional surgical care through a multidisciplinary approach which includes medical and surgical specialties, quality, safety, and clinical integration as well as administrative leaders. For example, the NICU and PICU work closely with a dedicated surgical liaison bolstering those units’ direct access to surgical experts.
CHKD also maintains a robust Surgical Performance Improvement Committee that works continuously to ensure high-quality and safe surgical care. Each committee representative is committed to constantly assessing their performance and providing optimal surgical care.
CHKD and community surgeons perform almost 13,000 procedures -- ranging from minor outpatient operations to complex reconstructive surgeries -- in CHKD's unique, child-friendly facilities every year.