Boston Children's Hospital

Founded in 1869, Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) is a 404-bed comprehensive pediatric and adolescent health care center. BCH is ranked as the top children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The hospital is guided by the core values of innovation, optimism, and a devotion to pediatric care. These attributes run throughout the hospital's core mission: providing the best clinical care to children, conducting cutting edge research, training the next generation of medical leaders, and improving the health and well being of children in our communities. Each year Boston Children's handles more than 662,700 child visits including inpatient, outpatient and emer... read more Founded in 1869, Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) is a 404-bed comprehensive pediatric and adolescent health care center. BCH is ranked as the top children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The hospital is guided by the core values of innovation, optimism, and a devotion to pediatric care. These attributes run throughout the hospital's core mission: providing the best clinical care to children, conducting cutting edge research, training the next generation of medical leaders, and improving the health and well being of children in our communities. Each year Boston Children's handles more than 662,700 child visits including inpatient, outpatient and emergency department. This volume makes Boston Children's one of the largest pediatric health centers in the world. With 40 specialties, 258 sub-specialty programs, and over 150 outpatient programs and clinics, the hospital has more clinical breadth and depth than any other pediatric hospital. The hospital is known for excellence in research, the education of tomorrow's medical leaders and its commitment to community health. Boston Children's Hospital is the primary pediatric teaching facility of Harvard Medical School. The hospital's residency program is one of the most competitive in the country: 1,670 students apply for 42 spots each year. Many of these residents go on to prestigious leadership positions in medicine. Boston Children's has more NIH funding than any other pediatric facility and is the 5th largest recipient of all US hospitals. Children's is home to the world's largest and most active research enterprise at a pediatric center, with more than 1,480 scientists and over 964,500 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space. Children's long, distinguished tradition in clinical research provides a foundation of experience and expertise across all of our departments, divisions, and programs. The collaboration between clinical researchers and basic scientists has resulted in remarkable advances in child health. Children's track record of discoveries includes many "firsts," including the development of the polio vaccine, the first successful fetal heart operation, and the discovery of the gene for muscular dystrophy. Among the hospital's distinguished faculty are 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, 14 members of the National Institute of Medicine and 8 members of the National Academy of Sciences. Two Boston Children's scientists have won Nobel Prizes: John Enders, PhD, for culturing polio, and John Murray, MD, for the first successful organ transplant. Boston Children's Hospital is the safety net for New England's kids, as the hospital cares for more low-income and uninsured kids than any other Massachusetts hospital. Today, 36% of all children treated at Children's are insured through Medicaid, other government programs or uninsured.