An American hospital with a paediatric centre funded by the Abu Dhabi Government has been ranked among the best children's hospitals in the country.
US News and World Report, a magazine that reports on consumer affairs, including health, personal finance and education, ranked the Children's National Medical Centre (CNMC) in Washington among the top 50 hospitals in 10 paediatric specialities.
It ranked among the top 10 in three categories: neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, and urology.
The centre houses the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation, which was established through a US$150 million (Dh550.9m) gift from the capital in 2009.
"The collaboration between the Government of Abu Dhabi, Children's National Medical Centre and the Sheikh Zayed Institute has played a large part in ensuring that we remain a leader and a destination of choice for world-class paediatric health care," said Dr Kurt Newman, the president and chief executive of Children's National.
"It is an honour to be ranked again among the very best children's hospitals in the US. This continued recognition highlights our commitment to providing the highest quality of care to our children and families."
In addition to conducting research on paediatric treatment, the institute also funds research into ways to make treatments less painful for children.
In January, the hospital opened a Pain Medicine Care Complex, an outpatient programme that uses multisensory technology to treat pain in children recovering from invasive surgery or undergoing extensive medical treatment.
The latest innovations at the clinic include the development of software that maps body motion, which doctors are using in conjunction with virtual-reality sports video games to gather vital information about children's bodies while they play.
Another device allows doctors to measure a patient's perception of pain through sensory stimulation.
The institute also runs a student innovators programme each year, in which students from around the world are selected to work hand-in-hand with experts.
These include eight bioengineering students from the UAE who have been selected since the summer programme was launched in 2011.
This year, the students had the opportunity to attend the first symposium on paediatric surgical innovation alongside experts and policymakers.
This is the third consecutive year the hospital has been ranked among the best paediatric hospitals by the publication's Best Children's Hospitals survey.
It was launched in 2007 to help the families of sick children in the United States find the best medical care available.
Each year, the hospital provides care for patients from more than 20 countries around the world, including the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Telemedicine technology also allows doctors to share information with more than 100 partnership sites in 14 countries.
The collaboration between the hospital and the UAE helped the Health Authority Abu Dhabi to launch the first comprehensive regional screening programme for congenital heart disease, using pulse oximetry.
The examination, which uses a light probe to measure the level of oxygen in the heart's red blood cells, replaced the existing physical tests that could miss nearly half of cases and could also put babies at risk of death or developmental disabilities.
As of September last year, more than 30,000 babies had been screened, with 13 cases of coronary congenital heart disease detected and referred for follow up.
For this year's rankings, the magazine surveyed 179 paediatric centres to receive clinical data from 10 specialities, and asked 150 paediatric specialists where they would send the sickest children.
*An earlier version of this article stated that the amount contributed was US$150,000 when it was in fact US$150 million.