News Room

Children’s Check-Up Reports Series

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota wants our children to come out on top. Minnesota has a long-standing reputation as a leader in family health and wellness, but unfortunately, today’s kids are facing a growing number of health problems. Through our Advocacy and Health Policy department, Children’s is bringing many of today’s most pressing health concerns into the conversation about health policy and looking specifically at how these issues impact kids.

That’s why Children’s teamed up with the University of Minnesota State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) to assemble data from a variety of sources to better understand how Minnesota is doing on a number of key indicators of children’s health. SHADAC’s collection of data, referred to as a “chart book” on “The Health of Minnesota’s Children,” is the foundation for Children’s Check-Ups, a series of in-depth reports to be released by Children’s over the next two years. The reports are designed to serve as a springboard for a statewide conversation about the health of Minnesota’s children.

Check-Up 3: New Childhood Obesity Is a Growing Challenge for Minnesota Kids.  Our newest Children's Check-Up shows the importance of starting early in fight against childhood obesity.

Check-Up 2: Vaccinations and the Challenges Confronting Minnesota Children takes a deeper look into children’s vaccination trends in Minnesota children.

Check-Up 1: Summary on the State of Children’s Health in Minnesota was the first in the series released in October 2010. This report took a high-level look at how Minnesota children stack up nationally and compared to the five-state Upper Midwest region.

Visits from Lawmakers

Representative Erik Paulsen

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen visited Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in August 2010. Representative Paulsen and his staff member Katie Meyer met with Alan Goldbloom, MD, Children's president and CEO. One of Representative Paulsen's  constituents, Veronica Stoltz, shared her personal experience at Children's. Stoltz's daughter Katie was born at 17 oz. and was in the hospital for 99 days. As part of the visit, neonatologist Jeanne Mrozek, MD, and patient care manager Jo Crosby walked the group through the NICU. See more photos from Paulsen's visit.

Representative Betty McCollum

In September 2010, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum visited Children's St. Paul campus to discuss children's health policy. She and her staff joined Alan Goldbloom, MD, Children's president and CEO, Clark Smith, MD, Children's chief of pediatrics, and Tom McGough Jr., president of McGough Construction, for a tour of the campus work site. They saw the transformation the hospital is undertaking, including the space that will become new operating rooms. McCollum and her staff also joined Dr. Goldbloom for a conversation about federal legislative issues, health care reform implementation and the financial challenges facing Children's as a result of state budget cuts. See more photos from McCollum's visit.

Senator Al Franken

In June 2011, U.S. Sen Al Franken visited Children's-Minneapolis to tour the hospital and meet with patients and care givers about issues related to Medicaid and medical education. Franken met with a Children's pediatric resident to discuss the importance of Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education funding (CHGME), a program that provides much needed funding to training pediatric health professionals. See more photos from Franken's visit.

Senator Amy Klobuchar

In June 2011 U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar spoke at Children's-Minneapolis, highlighting the need for urgent action to address a growing shortage of vital medications, especially drugs for treating cancer. Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska and a Minnesota family also spoke about the drug shortages. See more photos from Klobuchar's visit.

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Awards

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Awarded "Leapfrog Top Hospital" Designations for Quality and Efficiency
The Leapfrog Group's annual list of top hospitals named Children's-Minneapolis and Children's-St. Paul as two of the top ten pediatric hospitals in the country for quality and efficiency. Find out more about the award.

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Again Ranked Among Nation's Best by U.S. News & World Report.
For the sixth year in a row, Children's has been named one of the top pediatric hospitals in the nation according to the 2012-2013 U.S. News Media Group's Best Children's Hospital rankings. Find out more.