Boston Children's Hospital. This 395-bed pediatric medical center, which counts 25,000 inpatient admissions and more than 26,500 surgeries annually and is ranked the No. 1 children's hospital in the nation for 2014-15 by U.S. News & World Report, got its start in 1869 as a 20-bed facility in Boston's South End.
The hospital has also earned accolades from The Leapfrog Group as a "Top Children's Hospital" in 2014 based on quality, safety and efficiency. It was ranked No. 1 in the nation in eight pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report, including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics and urology. It ranked No. 3 in the nation for pediatric pulmonology and No. 5 for neonatology. Boston Children's is also recognized as a Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing.
As the primary teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's also has a long history of innovation. The specialty of pediatric surgery was launched at Boston Children's in 1920. In 1938, the world's first successful surgery to correct a congenital heart defect was performed at Boston Children's. Researchers successfully cultured polio and the measles viruses here, making way for the development of vaccines. Today, the Boston Children's research community boasts 1,100 scientists, the largest research enterprise based at a pediatric hospital in the world.
Boston Children's is a safety-net provider and the largest community healthcare provider for children in Boston. It has established community health programs to help promote children's health and wellness, particularly in the areas of obesity, asthma, mental health and access to early childhood care.
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