About Us

Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-bed comprehensive center for pediatric health care. As one of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States, Children's offers a complete range of health care services for children from birth through 21 years of age. (Our Advanced Fetal Care Center can begin interventions at 15 weeks gestation, and in some situations, we treat adults.)

Children's records approximately 22,600 inpatient admissions each year, and our 204 specialized clinical programs schedule more than 527,500 visits annually. Additionally, the hospital performs 23,000 surgical procedures and 170,000 radiological examinations every year.

The hospital's clinical staff includes approximately 963 active medical and dental staff, as well as 897 residents and fellows, 1,570 nursing and clinical personnel, and 5,200 other full- and part-time employees. We also have a diverse, trained team of more than 800 volunteers.

Children's is the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, at which most of our physicians hold faculty appointments.

Children's is also home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center. Since 1869, our discoveries have benefited both children and adults. More than 600 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, eleven on-staff members of the Institute of Medicine and twelve members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, comprise Children's research community. Our current initiatives have attracted a record $176 million in funding, including more federal funding than is awarded to any other pediatric facility.

In the John F. Enders Pediatric Research laboratories, named for the Children's researcher and Nobel Prize recipient who cultured the polio and measles viruses, hundreds of laboratory researchers and physician investigators search for answers to some of the most perplexing diseases.

In 2003, a generous philanthropic gift made the 295,000 square foot Karp Family Research Laboratories possible. The building increased our research space by more than 60 percent. The Karp family gift is just one of many important gifts that support Children's vital research enterprise.

Through the years, scientists at Children's have set the pace in pediatric research, identifying treatments and therapies for many debilitating diseases, including those of adulthood.

Children's Hospital Boston has been ranked first in Heart and Heart Surgery, Neurology and Neurosurgery and Orthopedics in the U.S. News Media Group's 2009 edition of America's Best Children's Hospitals featured in the August issue of U.S. News and World Report.

Children's Hospital Boston is one of only two hospitals to rank in the top five in all 10 specialties. Children's Hospital Boston ranks: second in Cancer, Urology, Diabetes and Endocrine Disorders; third in Digestive Disorders and Neonatal Care; fourth in Respiratory Disorders; and fifth in Kidney Disorders. Unlike the rankings in previous years, this edition does not rank the overall institutions, instead it identifies and honor roll of the 10 hospitals that rank in all 10 specialties. Since the magazine began ranking hospitals 20 years ago, Children's has always been ranked as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country.

Read the press release for additional information.

Children's is a certified Magnet hospital for nursing excellence. The Magnet award is the highest level of recognition for hospital nursing awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.