Manning Family Children’s Hospital in New Orleans is the first hospital in Louisiana and the Gulf South to become a Level 1 pediatric trauma center, a designation that means the hospital can treat patients under the age of 18 with the most serious trauma injuries and emergencies. 

In order to receive the designation from the American College of Surgeons, which was approved for Children’s Hospital earlier this week, hospitals must have access to pediatric trauma surgeons, specialized pediatric equipment and year-round, 24-hour pediatric intensive care units, among other requirements. 

Now, within LCMC Health, pediatric trauma patients in the New Orleans region will be directed to Manning Family Children’s rather than University Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center for adults, according to LCMC.

www.eye-creative.com Frank Aymami Photography

Dr. David Yu is the new chief medical officer and senior vice president at Manning Family Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. He begins his new role on Feb. 1, 2026.

Photo provided by Frank L Aymami III

Both children and adults can be treated at all Level 1 trauma centers, according to Dr. David Yu, the chief medical officer at Manning Family Children’s, but pediatric trauma centers have the capacity for specialized providers and more pediatric-sized equipment. 

“Children are not just small adults,” Yu said. “They have different patterns of injury, and there are additional emotional and psychological care needs in children.” 

The hospital has pursued the designation for eight years, according to Yu. 

“We’ve been working to grow our program to the highest level, the gold standard,” Yu said.

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A construction barricade featuring children looks up as crews work in front of Children’s Hospital New Orleans on Monday, July 19, 2021. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

The designation follows a period of significant expansion for Manning Family Children’s, which finished a four-year, $300 million renovation completed in 2022 that included a 28-room pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, 12 operating rooms, 45 emergency rooms, 24 rooms in the new cancer center and updated equipment for MRIs, CR scans and infusions.

It also comes amid the growing competition between LCMC Health, which operates Manning Family Children’s, and Ochsner Health, which is building a freestanding children’s hospital at its main campus in Jefferson Parish.

Ochsner’s new 343,000-square foot children’s hospital, set to open in 2028, will include a pediatric emergency department and a Level IV surgical neonatal intensive care unit, the highest accreditation available for neonatal units. LCMC also has this designation. Currently, Ochsner’s pediatric emergency department is located inside its medical center. 

Manning Family Children’s will be one of 83 Level 1 pediatric trauma centers in the country. The next closest is Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge are Level 2 pediatric trauma centers.

Both Level 1 and Level 2 pediatric trauma centers are equipped to handle severe, life-threatening pediatric trauma.

Level 1 trauma centers, however, additionally work to improve pediatric research, injury prevention programs and professional education for trauma care in their respective regions. They must also treat at least 200 patients under the age of 15 each year. Manning Family Children’s earned its Level 2 designation in 2023.

One part of the recent improvements at Manning Family Children’s included what LCMC Health said is the first and only pediatric emergency fellowship program in Louisiana, which was established in 2023.

Children’s trauma center is also equipped with child psychologists, child behavioral specialists and outpatient care, including a network with both Orleans and Jefferson parish public schools. The aim is to be able to assist in treatment from the moment of injury, and then to provide rehabilitation and back-to-school activities. 

“We didn’t pursue this to have a plaque on the wall,” Yu said. “This is not something you can plan for. We want parents to be assured that they are getting the highest standard of care with doctors, nurses and staff.”

The hospital will keep the designation through at least 2029, when it will undergo a reevaluation.