Aurora-based Children’s Hospital Colorado — which also operates a hospital in Colorado Springs — is still No. 1 in the state.

But Children’s Hospital slipped out of the Top 10 national ranking it had held for at least two years by the U.S. News & World Report.

Last year, the hospital ranked No. 7 nationally.

The nonprofit Children’s Hospital Colorado System’s best showing in this year’s ranking was for gastroenterology and GI surgery (No. 3) and in the Top 10 for three other medical specialties.

Raphe Schwartz, Children’s Hospital Colorado senior vice president and chief strategy officer, noted that all the hospital’s programs ranked in the top 25. He also acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented RSV surge this season “disproportionately affected children in our mountain region.”

“Patients continue to be our driving focus and at the forefront of every decision,” Schwartz said in a statement.

“Throughout these challenges, we have remained focused on delivering exceptional patient care, discovering cures, training the workforce of tomorrow and advocating for child health.”

The hospital was also ranked best in the Rocky Mountain region.

“Parents of sick children face many difficult challenges, including how to identify the best children’s hospital to treat their illness or condition,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and U.S. News managing editor, said in a press release.

“The rankings, which are increasingly determined by objective measures of hospital quality, can help them make informed decisions.”

The magazine, which annually ranks the nation’s Top 50 children’s hospitals, analyzed data from 119 facilities and surveyed thousands of pediatric specialists.

Refinements this year to the methodology include an increased emphasis on measures such as a commitment to equity and best practices while de-emphasizing expert opinion.

A “best” designation indicates that a hospital excelled in factors that included clinical outcomes and quality of facility resources, among others.

To read the full report, visit health.usnews.com.

Editor’s note: Healthy Bites is a recurring update on health care related topics by health reporter Nicole C. Brambila.

Editor’s note: Children’s Hospital Colorado requested Wednesday after publication that a statement be included in The Denver Gazette’s story on this year’s hospital rankings, which are now partially included.