Medical Specialty Care
Both sides of the Kansas City metro are anchored by nationally verified specialty medical centers, including two American College of Surgeons-verified Level I trauma centers, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, and a top-ranked children's hospital.
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Children's Mercy Kansas City is ranked among the nation's top 25 pediatric hospitals in three specialties -- diabetes & endocrinology, nephrology, and urology -- by U.S. News & World Report, with top-50 rankings in six more. It operates one of only twelve comprehensive pediatric epilepsy centers recognized nationally by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, and became the first health system in Missouri or Kansas to earn six consecutive Magnet designations for nursing excellence.
Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute
On October 17, 2023, Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute performed its 1,000th heart transplant, becoming only the 23rd hospital in the country to reach that mark -- a threshold cleared by a small fraction of the roughly 143 U.S. hospitals, out of more than 6,000, that perform heart transplants at all. The program ranks among the nation's top 15 for adult heart transplant volume over the past decade.
University Health Truman Medical Center
University Health Truman Medical Center is a verified Level I trauma center on the Missouri side of the metro, one of three hospitals holding that American College of Surgeons verification in Northwest Missouri.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center
The University of Kansas Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Kansas, a status held by fewer than 60 cancer centers nationwide.
The University of Kansas Health System
On the Kansas side of the metro, The University of Kansas Health System has held American College of Surgeons Level I trauma verification since September 2000, and describes itself as the region's most experienced ACS-verified Level I trauma program -- a designation only a limited number of U.S. trauma programs have achieved.