Primary Children's earned recognition in all 11 pediatric specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report, extending a three-year run of all-specialty showings for the Salt Lake City, Lehi and Taylorsville campuses. The system recorded seven top-25 finishes, up from six last year, with neonatology entering the top 25 for the first time.
The 2026-27 Best Children's Hospitals rankings, released Tuesday, mark the 20th anniversary edition of the evaluation, which this year analyzed clinical data and physician survey responses from 114 participating pediatric centers across those 11 medical specialties, according to Morningstar. U.S. News has been publishing pediatric hospital data surveys since 2007 and evaluated nearly 200 eligible institutions nationwide for this edition. As ABC4 Utah first reported, Primary Children's campuses are operated through a partnership with University of Utah Health.
Orthopedics, Neurology Lead a Strong Showing
Primary Children's had five specialties in the top 20: orthopedics and cardiology and heart surgery both ranked No. 11, neurology and neurosurgery ranked No. 12, urology ranked No. 15, and nephrology ranked No. 17.
Neonatology ranked No. 19, while pediatric cancer care reached No. 20 for its first top-25 placement, according to ABC4 Utah's report. The remaining numbered results were No. 27 in gastroenterology and GI surgery, No. 30 in diabetes and endocrinology, and No. 40 in pulmonology and lung surgery. Primary Children's also received top-50 recognition in four additional specialties, including behavioral health.
Why Behavioral Health Isn't Numbered
That behavioral health designation doesn't carry a specific number because of how U.S. News structures the category. The 2026-27 evaluations marked the third year the outlet assessed pediatric and adolescent behavioral health, and per Morningstar's report, the outlet recognizes top-50 programs alphabetically rather than assigning ordinal rankings.
Mandy Richards said the recognition in all 11 pediatric specialty categories reflects caregiver dedication and families' trust, according to ABC4 Utah's report. Dustin Lipson credited the partnership between Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health with expanding advanced therapies and pediatric services across the region, the outlet noted.
The Score Behind the Rankings
U.S. News & World Report says specialty scores draw roughly equally from clinical outcomes, care coordination and care-related resources, while surveys of pediatric specialists contribute up to 10%, depending on the specialty, according to its published methodology. That weighting differs from the simplified breakdown described by Fierce Healthcare, which also reported that U.S. News works with RTI International to process clinical performance data submitted by pediatric facilities nationwide.
Angelo Giardino said physicians' commitment to putting children first is reflected in the rankings, per ABC4 Utah's report. He added that the partnership between the two institutions is advancing pediatric medicine through innovative treatments, improved outcomes, enhanced patient experiences, and expanded specialized care, and that University of Utah Health and Primary Children's recruit some of the nation's best physicians.
A Regional Hub Built Through Rapid Growth
The rankings arrive amid years of expansion for a hospital system that serves an outsized geographic footprint. Primary Children's flagship Salt Lake City campus maintains 289 inpatient beds and functions as the Intermountain West's Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, according to the University of Utah School of Medicine. Hoodline detailed the hospital's trauma care in coverage of a Utah teen's neck injury earlier this year.
The hospital's catchment area spans roughly 400,000 square miles across Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado, per the university's medical school. The broad service area is reflected in Hoodline's report on an Aneth twins case involving a 300-mile airlift.
Lehi Campus Adds Capacity Amid Population Boom
Much of that expanded reach traces to Intermountain Health's 2024 opening of the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi, a 66-bed facility, according to the Intermountain Health Newsroom. The campus was a new full-service children's hospital.
The Lehi campus adds capacity in Utah County. That growth has already brought new services to the area, including the mental health facility Hoodline covered in Lehi's new Kahlert Center opening earlier this month.
Primary Promise is a philanthropic campaign associated with Intermountain Health, per Wikipedia's summary of the hospital's history. Primary Children's academic ties run deep, too: its affiliation with the University of Utah School of Medicine was formally established in 1977, creating a model in which faculty physicians hold dual appointments to conduct both clinical care and medical research — infrastructure that helps explain the hospital's strength under the outcome- and resource-heavy scoring rubric.
What the Rankings Show Over Time
The current all-specialty result has a clear historical precedent: according to Intermountain Health, Primary Children's ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties measured by U.S. News in 2017. That establishes continuity, but the available figures do not provide a specialty-by-specialty five-year trend showing which individual fields improved or declined. Capacity and service expansion have continued alongside the rankings: Intermountain says the Lehi campus opened by early 2024 with five floors and 66 beds, while its outpatient center is planned for 30 pediatric specialty clinics, including behavioral health, rehabilitation and oncology infusions. Rank comparisons also require caution. U.S. News says clinical outcomes, care coordination and care-related resources each account for close to one-third of a specialty score, while pediatric specialist surveys contribute up to 10% depending on the specialty. Because the weighting varies by specialty and the measured categories can change, a rank in one year should not be read as a direct measure of improvement or decline against every other year or hospital.
Where Primary Children's Stands Regionally
In current regional U.S. News evaluations covering the Rocky Mountain states, Primary Children's ranks second behind Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, according to Utah Public Radio. Children's Hospital Colorado is the Rocky Mountain regional leader, the station noted.
How that regional competition shifts remains an open question as the region's pediatric-care landscape evolves.
