Among the leaders of the 30 largest children's hospitals in the U.S., most assumed the role in the last five years.
The average tenure for healthcare CEOs is 7.6 years, according to a Crist Kolder Associates report.
Kim Cripe, CEO of Children's Hospital of Orange County (Orange, Calif.), has had the longest tenure, taking the helm in 1997.
Bed counts are sourced from the American Hospital Directory, which draw data from hospitals' most recent CMS Cost Reports, as well as hospital websites and counts provided by the organizations. Data was accessed Oct. 22.
1. Texas Children's Hospital (Houston): 905 beds
Debra Sukin, PhD, became CEO on Oct. 5.
2. Cincinnati Children's: 711
Steve Davis, MD, was appointed president and CEO in 2021.
3. Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio): 701
Timothy Robinson has been CEO since 2019.
4. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: 667
Madeline Bell, BSN, was named president and CEO in 2015.
5. Children's Hospital Colorado – Anschutz (Colo.) Medical Campus: 497
Jena Hausmann was appointed CEO in 2015.
6. Boston Children's Hospital: 485
Kevin Churchwell, MD, was named CEO in 2021.
7. Riley Hospital for Children (Indianapolis): 456
Ryan Nagy, MD, was named interim president of Riley Children's Health in February.
8. Saint Louis Children's Hospital: 455
Trish Lollo was appointed president in 2019.
9. Cook Children's Medical Center (Fort Worth, Texas): 447
Stan Davis has been president since 2022.
10. Arthur M. Blank Hospital (Atlanta): 446
Donna Hyland was named president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in 2008.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta includes Arthur M. Blank Hospital, Scottish Rite Hospital and Hughes Spalding Hospital for a total of 789 beds in the system.
11. Rady Children's Hospital – San Diego: 425
Patrick Frias, MD, has served as president and CEO since 2019.
12. Children's Minnesota – Minneapolis: 420
Marc Gorelick, MD, was appointed CEO in 2017.
13. Children's Hospital Los Angeles: 413
Paul Viviano has served as president and CEO since 2015.
14. Children's Health System of Texas (Dallas): 472
Christopher Durovich was named president and CEO of Children's Health in 2003.
Children's Health System of Texas includes Children's Medical Center Dallas with 400 beds and Children's Medical Center Plano with 72 beds for a total bed count of 472.
Placement is based on Children's Medical Center Dallas.
15. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.): 394
Paul King was named president and CEO in 2019.
16. Phoenix Children's Hospital: 383
Robert Meyer has been president and CEO of Phoenix Children's since 2003.
17. Seattle Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center: 370
Jeff Sperring, MD, was appointed CEO in 2015.
18. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: 364
Tom Shanley, MD, was named president and CEO in 2019.
19. Valley Children's Healthcare (Madera, Calif.): 358
Todd Suntrapak has served as president and CEO of the system since 2012.
20. Miller Children's and Women's Hospital (Long Beach, Calif.): 357
Blair Kent was named CEO in 2022.
21. Children's Hospital of Alabama (Birmingham): 351
Tom Shufflebarger has served as president and CEO of Children's of Alabama since 2021.
22. C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (Ann Arbor, Mich.): 348
Luanne Thomas Ewald was named COO in 2020.
23. Children's Hospital of Orange County (Orange, Calif.): 334
Kim Cripe has been president and CEO since 1997.
24. Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (Houston): 332
Marissa Kiefer was appointed CEO in 2021.
25. Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.) Adele Hall Campus: 328
Paul Kempinski was named president and CEO of Children's Mercy Kansas City in 2018 and announced his retirement in May.
26. Arkansas Children's Hospital (Little Rock): 326
Marcy Doderer has served as president and CEO of Arkansas Children's since 2013.
27. Children's National Medical Center (Washington, D.C.): 323
Michelle Riley-Brown was named president and CEO in 2023.
28. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite: 319
Donna Hyland was named president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in 2008.
29. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh: 317
Diane Hupp, DNP, RN, has served as president since 2022.
30. Nicklaus Children's Hospital (Miami): 307
Matthew Love was appointed president and CEO of the system in 2019.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 23.