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(352) 273-7770

Outcomes

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Congenital Heart Center patient room
The Congenital Heart Center offers colorful rooms to make patients feel comfortable.
Congenital heart center waiting room
The waiting room is spacious enough for family and friends.
Patient room with book and toys
Toys and books are available for patients.
Congenital Heart Center hallway with mural on floor
The Congenital Heart Center offers a variety of care.

Finding the best care is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make, and many factors will influence your decision about where your child will be treated.

At UF Health, we believe in patient-centered care, and we strive to ensure that patients and their families are taken care of throughout the patient’s treatment. During your initial visits and follow-up appointments, we’ll take time to answer all of your questions and concerns.

Among the many questions parents should ask about any congenital heart center they’re considering for their child’s care is: What are your outcomes?

The UF Health Congenital Heart Center takes care of some of the sickest children in Florida and the southeastern United States, and we have excellent outcomes.

Download our latest Outcomes Report
CHC patient

As part of our commitment to quality and improvement, the UF Health Congenital Heart Center reports its outcomes annually to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Congenital Heart Surgery Database. Through our participation in the STS program, we are able to compare our outcomes with other congenital heart programs across the country.

The STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database has become the gold standard for specialty outcomes databases. Our voluntary participation in the STS database demonstrates our center’s commitment to providing the safest and highest-quality care to our patients.

Children at the park smiling
Pediatric cardiology badge 2023-2024

Excellent care is at the heart of what we do, that’s why UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital is named as one of the nation’s best pediatric cardiology and heart surgery specialty programs, according to the 2023-24 U.S. News & World Report Rankings.

See our rankings

98.7% Survival rate

Society of Thoracic Surgeons, July 1, 2017-June 30, 2021

1900+

Average adult congenital heart patient visits

Survival rates

UF Health Shands Hospital survival rates of 10 standard heart operations (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2021):

About our data

Our data are pulled from the December 2021 report from the STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database, covering procedural data from July 1, 2017-June 30, 2021. This report includes information from 118 North American congenital heart surgery participants. STS data are arranged by complexity of procedure, based on STAT Categories 1-5, or the Society of Thoracic Surgeons – European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Surgery Mortality Categories.

  • STAT Category 1 cases are less complex procedures that have a low risk of complications (i.e. closures of atrial septal defects and ventricular septal defects).
  • STAT Category 2 cases are procedures that have an increased risk of complications (i.e. coarctation of the aorta repair, congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, ventricular septal defect repair).
  • STAT Category 3 cases are complex procedures that have an increased risk of complications (i.e. hemiFontan and arterial switch operation).
  • STAT Category 4 cases are more complex procedures that have a higher risk of complications (i.e. Tetralogy of Fallot repairs and truncus arteriosus repairs).
  • STAT Category 5 cases are the most complex procedures and have the highest risk of complications (i.e. Norwood procedure and heart-lung transplant).