Driscoll Children's Heart Center recognized for exceptional surgical outcomes
New STS data places South Texas program among small group of North American heart centers with significantly better-than-expected surgical outcomes
Corpus Christi, TX, Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Heart Center has achieved exceptional outcomes in congenital heart surgery, surpassing national benchmarks for quality care according to the latest composite data from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), a leading authority on evaluating surgical outcomes and quality across heart programs in North America.
Driscoll Children’s Heart Center achieved a 98.7% survival rate over four years. With 698 surgeries performed between January 2021 and December 2024, the program consistently delivered better-than-expected results across a diverse range of complex cases.
Out of 98 STS participants in North America, Driscoll is one of 14 programs that achieved significantly better-than-expected outcomes, meaning they outperformed the predicted results based on the severity and complexity of the cases treated. Historically, approximately 14% of participants have better than expected outcomes for congenital heart surgery. This STS distinction is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, comparing the nationally benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada. The successful outcomes of the Heart Center are especially meaningful for South Texas, a region far from the traditional hubs of pediatric cardiac care.
Driscoll Children’s Hospital achieved an overall risk-adjusted operative mortality of 1.4%, outperforming the expected rate of 2.7% for its patient population. Risk adjustment is a way to measure surgical results that takes into consideration how sick patients were prior to treatment. Driscoll significantly outperformed in its highest-risk STAT Category 5 cases (the most complex congenital heart cases) with an observed mortality rate of 3.3% compared to an expected rate of 15.3%.
"At Driscoll, we are committed to providing the most advanced care for the most complex and high-risk cases,” said Dr. Stephen Langley, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Driscoll Children’s Heart Center. “This exceptional data reflects our continued growth and dedication to improving pediatric cardiac care. For families in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, it means access to world-class care close to home, ensuring children receive the best possible treatment without the need to travel far."
Driscoll Children's Hospital Heart Center Operative Mortality (January 2021 - December 2024)
| Complexity | Number of Patients | Driscoll | National Average (STS Mortality) |
| STAT Mortality Category 1 | 297 | 0% | 0.6% |
| STAT Mortality Category 2 | 142 | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| STAT Mortality Category 3 | 83 | 1.3% | 3.3% |
| STAT Mortality Category 4 | 124 | 4.9% | 7.4% |
| STAT Mortality Category 5 | 52 | 3.3% | 15.3% |
| Overall | 698 | 1.4% | 2.7% |
“I am incredibly grateful to our entire team, including surgeons, cardiologists, intensive care specialists, anesthesiologists, nurses and support staff, who collaborate across multiple specialties to make these outcomes possible,” said Dr. Langley, who has led the heart program at Driscoll since 2019. “The combined effort of everyone involved ensures that each child receives the most comprehensive care tailored to their needs."
The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. It is a critical tool for benchmarking and improving the quality of cardiothoracic care, allowing hospitals to measure outcomes against national standards. Driscoll’s performance highlights its consistent leadership in advancing surgical care for children with congenital heart conditions.
“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons leads the effort in quality improvement by maintaining one of the most penetrant clinical databases in cardiothoracic surgery that employs high-fidelity risk models to provide risk-adjusted outcomes to individual participants,” said Ram Kumar Subramanyan, MD, PhD, Chair of the STS Council on Quality and Research. “STS thanks participants for voluntarily submitting data to the databases, demonstrating their commitment to improving healthcare delivery. Voluntary public reporting of outcomes by individual participants provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about healthcare.”
Driscoll Heart Center
These results come during a period of historic growth for Driscoll Children’s Heart Center. Over the past four years, Driscoll has invested more than $100 million in expanding and enhancing Heart Center services, including a major expansion in Corpus Christi to introduce a cutting-edge procedural suite featuring two operating rooms, two cardiac catheterization laboratories, and a 35-bed Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Additionally, Driscoll’s first pediatric cardiology clinic in El Paso opened in early 2024, providing specialized care for children with complex congenital heart conditions in the West Texas region.
Driscoll Heart Center offers families access to a wide range of heart specialties and services, including pediatric cardiology, pediatric cardiac surgery, pediatric cardiac anesthesia, pediatric cardiac intensive care, pediatric electrophysiology, cardiac catheterization, cardiac cross-sectional imaging, fetal imaging and other innovative medical services and technologies.
###
About Driscoll: Driscoll is the premier healthcare provider for kids in South Texas. We are a nonprofit healthcare system that has served communities in the Lone Star State since 1953. Today, Driscoll is the fastest-growing healthcare system in the region, offering care at the region’s only two freestanding designated children’s hospitals: Driscoll Children’s Hospital Corpus Christi and Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley, and at specialty centers and clinics across South Texas. Our non-profit community-based health plan, Driscoll Health Plan, offers Texas families access to local physicians and other lifesaving benefits.
About STS: Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,800 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.
Fernando Ramirez Driscoll Children's Hospital 361-631-2368 fernando.ramirez@dchstx.org
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
