A pioneer in pediatric medicine, education and research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has fostered clinical innovations and scientific breakthroughs that have advanced pediatric healthcare worldwide. Our scientists and physicians have pioneered research and advanced treatment in areas such as vaccines, cancer, cardiac disease and congenital anomalies benefiting children from all nations.

Founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital, CHOP today is a wide-ranging, integrated healthcare system that treats children from here and from around the world from before birth through young adulthood – from routine to rare, from primary to emergency care, from subspecialty and intensive care to rehabilitation and homecare. Ours is the largest and most complex pediatric healthcare system in the U.S. Our unprecedented growth speaks to the dramatically expanding need for care and the drawing power of CHOP as a setting in which leading clinicians and scientists can advance the field.

A unique sense of urgency comes with the effort to heal a child. The next cure, the next breakthrough cannot come soon enough. This urgency drives us to promote a unique culture of innovation, setting the pace for pediatric research, developing improved models of patient care, and training the next generation of leaders in our field. We are proud of our ability to continue as a freestanding institution, remarkable in today’s healthcare environment. For CHOP, the ability to guide our own destiny is critical to fulfilling our mission of treating and curing pediatric disease.

CHOP is characterized by a spirit of collaboration. Administration and clinical staff maintain an extraordinary level of interaction. Research endeavors and clinical programs continually stimulate and benefit one another. Many of our leading clinical centers are built on a model of multidisciplinary care, in which collaboration is paramount.

Collaboration extends to families as well. As an internationally recognized leader in family centered care, we recognize the irreplaceable role of the family in helping a child cope with illness, and provide wide-ranging support systems. We rely on families for input, too - enlisting them to advise us on everything from patient room design to strategic planning.

The belief that every child should have access to outstanding pediatric care has driven us to expand our reach. We currently see patients from all 50 states and from countries throughout the world. We acknowledge and respect the diverse cultural and spiritual needs of all our patients and their families. Our hospital has a long history of caring for children from all backgrounds. We offer interpreters in over 50 languages day or night, special meal preparation, and a non-denominational space, the newly remodeled Schlimm Center for Prayer and Reflection, to help meet the spiritual needs of our patients, families and employees. Private rooms are organized to provide a supportive environment for the family and include sleeping accommodations for parents.

CHOP has a long and distinguished history. We have been ranked the nation’s best children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report for the last five years and awarded Magnet Status for Nursing Excellence. In addition, we have many firsts:

• First hospital in the nation devoted exclusively to pediatric medicine; established in 1855; First formal medical training for pediatric doctors
• First pediatric day surgery unit in the U.S.
• First neonatal surgical and pediatric intensive care unit in the U.S.
• First multidisciplinary homecare program in the U.S. for children who need medical ventilators
• First designated Level I Pediatric Regional resource Trauma Center in eastern Pennsylvania
• First follow-up program for long-term survivors of childhood cancer
• First clinic in the nation for the treatment of childhood speech defects
• First to develop the closed incubator for newborns
• First to develop the balloon catheter for the treatment of certain heart defects
• First to discover the cause of infectious mononucleosis
• First to develop vaccines for mumps, whooping cough and influenza
• First to author a book on Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
• First to develop a unique acute insulin response test to diagnose patients with focal lesions of congenital hyperinsulinism that can be cured with surgical intervention
• First to develop a Family Faculty Program in which adult family members teach physicians and staff about the experience of illness
• First to offer subspecialty training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine

We are proud to be uniquely positioned to have a profound and lasting impact on the health and well-being of children throughout the world.