Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Earns Fourth Consecutive Top Children’s Hospital Award by The Leapfrog Group for Outstanding Quality and Safety

Published on: 01/06/2026

Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Nicklaus Children's was named a Top Children's Hospital by The Leapfrog Group. This award is one of the most competitive honors hospitals and surgery centers in the United States can receive for their commitment to safety and quality.

"We are honored to be recognized by The Leapfrog Group as a Top Children's Hospital for the fourth consecutive year and one of six in the state of Florida to receive this honor," said Randy Harmatz, Senior Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer for Nicklaus Children's Hospital. "Quality and safety are at the foundation of everything we do. These are not just metrics we measure, but essential commitments we make to every child and family who walks through our doors. This distinction reflects our entire team's unwavering dedication to meeting the highest standards of care for the families we serve in South Florida and beyond."

Over 2,400 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, Nicklaus Children's Hospital received a Top Children's distinction. A total of 156 Top Hospitals were selected, including:

• 15 Top Children's
• 52 Top General
• 16 Top Rural
• 73 Top Teaching

Nicklaus Children's Hospital is 1 of 6 Leapfrog Top Children's Hospitals in the state of Florida.

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit watchdog organization that rates hospitals and ASCs on how well they protect patients from preventable harm, including accidents, injuries and infections. The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is given to teaching, general, rural and children's hospitals that publicly report their performance through the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and meet the high standards defined in the Top Hospitals methodology. This includes infection rates and a hospital's ability to prevent medication errors, among other standards.

To qualify for the distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards for quality and patient safety, and achieve top performance in their category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2025 Top Hospitals, visit https://www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.